Ad Captandum
by Nea-writes
Summary: Dragged to Gehenna when he's 10, Rin misses out a lot on his old world. But, after spending six years of his life there, Rin has no intention of returning to Assiah or becoming Satan's vessel. But Yukio has other plans, and Satan is hell-bent on subduing his youngest son.
1. Chapter 0

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

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_Ap Captandum_

_Prologue_

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It was your average day in True Cross city, with citizens walking about doing their business, mother's chatting as they pushed babies in strollers, and working men hurrying to and from lunch. It was a Saturday, and Rin whooped for joy as their grade was released, the twelve o'clock bell tolling loudly throughout the town.

"Come on, Yukio!" Rin shouted giddily, grabbing his brother by his hand so as to drag him faster.

Yukio grinned eagerly, returning his brother's steady grip so that the pair of ten year-olds held hands as they ran down the street tops. Yukio knew Daddy had told them not the run in the streets, but it was okay if they held hands, right?

"Daddy said he'd have lunch made by the time we get home, and I'm _hungry_, so hurry up!" Rin yelled back to his brother, who despite training laboriously in his exorcists studies never could match Rin's natural athleticism.

"Nii-san, not so fast!" Yukio laughed, pulling back on their shared hands to slow his bull of a brother down. "If you keep going like this, you're going to hit someone."

"Nuh-uh!" Rin retorted as he rounded a corner, using their momentum to swing his brother around. They collapsed, laughing hysterically with the jubilance of youth. "You tripped me!" Rin accused his brother.

"You tripped yourself and then pulled me down too!" Yukio denied, kicking his brother's foot. Rin retaliated by pushing his brother down, only to laugh even harder when Yukio's backpack prevented him from actually touching the ground.

The younger twin scowled, rolling around and picking himself up. He dusted his pants off, before slanting a glare towards his brother, who was still chortling on the ground. Yukio grinned.

"Here, nii-san," he said, extending a welcoming hand down to Rin. The elder twin, still giggling, didn't notice the evil glare in Yukio's eyes and gullibly took the offered hand. As he was pulled up, Yukio quickly let go, letting Rin fall back down with an inelegant "oomph!"

Yukio lost it. He laughed so hard tears sprang to his eyes, and Rin good-naturedly laughed as well. Finally, the two brother's picked themselves up, clasped hands once more, and continued their interrupted journey.

"I told you you were gonna fall." Yukio chided.

"No you didn't! You said I'd hit someone!" Rin exclaimed in mock anger, releasing their joined hands so that he could walk backwards as they talked, folding his arms behind his neck and glancing up towards the azure sky.

"And you did. You hit _me_."

"Aw, you don't count as _someone_." Rin returned, lowering his gaze to glimpse his brother's amused face.

But before Yukio could reply, a piercing scream interrupted them, and the twin's whipped their heads towards the startling close sound, tensing as it echoed morbidly in the shadowed alleyway beside them.

The sunlight lit up the buildings on either side of the narrow alley, but in the crevice between the two towering structures darkness pervaded so thickly it was hard to see through.

Yukio immediately gripped his brother's arm as Rin surged forward, prepared to meet -and possibly help- the seemingly young girl in distress. "Nii-san, no! We need to go get someone!" Apprehension tightened the younger twin's stomach as he tried helplessly to see through the mouth of the alleyway further in.

Rin took but a moment to glance back at his twin in disbelief. "Get someone? We need to help her now!" With that Rin overpowered his brother and ran in, leaving Yukio to stand nervously as he watched the darkness swallow his brave brother up.

Angry, Yukio yelled, "Stupid nii-san!" before wheeling around to hunt down a stranger, a police man, _anyone_.

Yukio's scream echoed back to Rin as the youngster pounded down the concrete walkway, his own steps coming to reverberate in his ears. A pervading silence weighed down on Rin, and as Rin felt himself drawing nearer to the source of the earlier scream, fear twisted his gut. It was too too dark for midday, even in an alley, Rin couldn't even see his feet! Something was very very wrong, he felt.

Nervously, Rin glanced upwards but found he couldn't even see the sky. His heart thundered in his chest, and Rin was suddenly feeling that maybe following Yukio's advice would have been better.

"Hello~," a voice gaily said, right by Rin's ear.

With a shriek Rin jumped away, crying out when his head slammed into the brick wall behind him. His eyes wheeled about in the darkness, trying uselessly to see who his assailant was, but he couldn't see anything. It was like he was blind.

"Aww, are you scared," the voice said happily, cooing in delight it seemed. Rin only felt marginally better that the source of the voice seemed to stay where it had been. "Did you hear my scream earlier? I've been working on different types. Please, tell me, what did it sound like to you?"

Stuttering, Rin answered. "Y-you sounded li-like a girl." The poor boy swallowed dryly, and now he couldn't feel his hands or feet, like his body was slowly going numb. He felt warm breath waft gently against his right cheek, and Rin shrieked once more. He tried to jump away but found he couldn't move.

"Really?" The voice demanded excitedly. "Oh, wonderful! I've been working on that for months now, but people always say I sound like a little boy, but," here, the voice paused, as if in thought. "You sound like a little girl when you scream too."

Here, Rin's indignation flared briefly, enough to overpower his fear. "I'm a boy!" he shouted to the space he thought the voice to be.

"And how delightful that is! I do prefer men over women, but little boys will do too." Rin thought he could see gleaming white teeth smile wickedly, but he wasn't sure. _Maybe I'm just imagining everything_, he thought, hoped. _Maybe it's a dream and Daddy will wake me up soon with pancakes and syrup and Yukio will laugh and hug me._

"No deary, it's not a dream." The syrupy voice giggled, when suddenly it grew demonic. "It's a nightmare!" As Rin's terror rose, the demon seemed to grow even more intoxicated. A slippery wet sensation slid up Rin's throat, and the young boy whimpered as he realized the voice was licking him.

His heart pounded so hard in his little chest that Rin thought it was about to explode. He couldn't breathe. Even now he kept trying, breathing, breathing, breathing, but nothing seemed to reach his lungs. Everything was burning, his arms his stomach, his chest, his hands, he couldn't breathe!

"Yes, yes, yes! Go on, keep getting scared! After all, there's no one coming to save you! Dear Yukio's gotten lost. Maybe I'll go after him!"

Here, Rin's fear spiked, and a thousand images of his small little brother in his same position filtered through his mind's eyes. No! He wasn't going to let this monster touch his brother! Nobody would ever hurt his brother!

With a inhuman roar Rin yelled and jumped away from the wall, blinking as a soft blue light flickered on. A hideous monster had been crouched over him, a long slimy tongue hanging from it's triangular like heard as it's back remained arched high into the air, legs bent like an animals', with arms too small for it's body. A long thick tail, like a lizard's, thrashed behind the monster.

At the sight of Rin's blue flames the monster screeched and reeled away, pressing against the wall Rin had been on in shock.

Rin caught sight of blue flickering, and when he looked down he found himself covered in blue flames, consuming his body wickedly, eagerly, wrapping around his fingers and arms, his legs. He was swallowed whole by the flame. Wildly, Rin flapped his arms, trying to dispel the fire. "Get it off, get it off!" he screamed, not noticing how the flames never burned him.

"My lord," the demon whispered, crouching forward to peer intently at the flickering azure light Rin gave off. "My lord, we've been searching for you!" Here the demon scuttled forward on lizard like feet, grasping with his hands towards Rin. Startled, Rin jumped back with a yelp, his attention returning from the blue flames sprouting from his body to the creature before him.

"Wh-what are you talking about!" Rin demanded, and yet the fire was still on his body. But he wasn't burning...there was no pain. Was he dead already?

"No, my young prince, you are not dead!" The demon eagerly reassured. "Your power has returned to you! Come, your father will be very pleased to see you!" At these words, Rin perked up, but quickly scowled.

"You're not going to take me to my daddy!" The words, though delivered strongly, were still feeble, and the demon could sense the weakness plaguing the youngster's mind. Oh, what a wonderful meal he would have made! Regretfully, however, this one was out of reach.

"But, young lord, I am! It's not that long of a trip, I promise you!"

Rin saw the logic in these words, the truth, for Rin and Yukio had actually not been too far from home when the shrill scream had stopped them. Suspiciously, Rin peered at the demon.

Once more finding Rin's doubts, the demon cajoled him further. "My young lord, your father will be able to subdue your flames!"

The eager words did the trick as Rin stared down at his flame covered hands, watching the energetic fire leap towards his face, which he suspected was also covered in the flames. After a moment of contemplation however, Rin scowled. "No! You tried to eat me! Go away!" With this, Rin pushed the approaching monster away, heedless of the brutal yells following as the monster began to burn with the blue flames. Rin ran away.

He ran towards what he thought the entrance was, but darkness was all around him, penetrated only by the soft glow of flames still encasing his body.

"S-someone!" Rin yelled, eyes grasping to see anything, something, someone, in the limited light his flames provided. Rin ran and ran, his feet pounding on black, his hands searching, but there was nothing.

"Daddy!" Rin screamed, crouching down and crying. He sobbed into his hands, little body shaking. He was lost, gone, he'd never see his daddy again.

Rin didn't know how long he crouched there crying, it was impossible to tell time in this dark void of a world he'd been sucked into. Gradually, however, sounds reached his ears, the hubbub of True Cross city breaking the darkness. Rin blinked and looked up, and when he saw sunlight he cried in relief again.

Perhaps it was only a rat, but a scuttling sound behind Rin sent the boy up and running once more, and Rin eagerly took the turns and roads leading to the monastery he lived in. He no longer paid any mind to the flames caressing his skin, nor to the fact that nobody seemed to notice them either. Rin ignored the overly large flies littering the skies, or the strange bobbing shapes clinging to walls and people, all he could think was to find his daddy and have him fix everything.

The monastery was in sight, as gloomy as ever even in the blinding midday sun, but Rin was undeterred. He slid to a skid in front of the gated entrance of the church, gasping for breath from his continuous run. There, there was his daddy! Standing with policeman and Yukio at the entrance to the church, Shiro was conversing sternly with the few uniform-clad men that had been sent, his heavy black robes weighing down on him and Yukio clinging to them, sobbing.

"Daddy!" Rin called, knees weak and unable to carry him further. He was home, he was safe, Daddy was here. Everything was okay. "Daddy!" Rin yelled again, watching as Shiro's head jerked up towards Rin, a giant smile spreading across his face. Yukio, following Rin's voice, and having spied Rin, pushed so hard from Shiro he almost fell, stumbling in his haste to run towards Rin.

"Nii-san!" Yukio screamed, already ahead of Shiro and the police men.

"Rin!" Shiro yelled back, pushing past the police men to run towards Rin.

There was suddenly a warmth at his back, though, and when Rin turned to look at it he found a tall grinning man. Huge curling horns adorned his temples, and his teeth were sharpened, his smile feral. A black miasma curled from his borrowed body, and Astaroth bent down, slipping his arms around Rin's shocked body.

"Come, let us take you to your father," Astaroth said, before slipping away into the darkness, Shiro's last yell following them and Yukio's cries dying in his ears.

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**A/N: Yes, this plot is a little bit over done, the whole "Rin is taken to Gehenna" but I've yet to find a good completed fic of it, so I decided I'd give a go at it.**

**Ad Captandum: In rhetoric an argumentum ad captandum, "for capturing" the gullibility of the naïve among the listeners or readers, is an unsound, specious argument designed to appeal to the emotions rather than to the mind. ...**

**I feel Rin is a rather emotional person, and while not totally idiotic he does go with his heart more often than his brain (Yukio's rather the opposite). The next few chapters will span Rin's time in Gehenna, and this will most likely be a very slow paced story. **

**Will most likely be updated once a week, on or around Monday-Wednesday, but no promises.**

**Also, there will be no romance! This is more family/friends-centric, so for those shippers out there, sorry!**

**If you've found any grammar mistakes, misspellings, or anything odd, please let me know! I've no beta, so this is all on me! (Speaking of, I am in the market for a beta, anyone interested?)**

**And for my Skip Beat followers, I've not abandoned my other fics! I've simply joined another fandom~ no worries, Aberrant will continue now that I am through with finals and summer's upon us!**

**As of 5/26/14: 2139 words**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimers apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

**Edit: The content of chapters 1 and 2 have been switched around to make more linear sense. They've no new information.**

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Ad Captandum

_Chapter 1_

_Assiah_

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"Daddy!"

The yell, oh so wonderfully familiar, snagged at Shiro's ears, and the priest eagerly turned to face the shout, feeling Yukio detaching himself already. The little boy was already stumbling past Shiro, screaming for Rin.

"Daddy!"

"Rin!"

Shiro pushed past the policemen surrounding him, finally catching a full glimpse of Rin, who stood in his uniform, hair mussed and eyes bright, waving wildly at Shiro, and burning hot blue flames. Relief had washed over him so quickly Shiro lost his breath, his heart finally slowing down, only to drum a warrior's beat as he focused on the gleaming fire surrounding Rin.

The sun was shining in Rin's hair through the flames, and Yukio was already almost near him, Shiro following just a few paces behind, a heavy sense of foreboding weighing down his stomach, twisting his gut and plaguing Shiro with questions like _what happened_ and _does Rin know what's happening_ and _oh God what am I going to do now?_

Blinking, Shiro looked up towards Rin, and felt his heart stop. A curling of miasma unfolded from behind Rin, and from it stepped a man who was unremarkable aside from the curling ram horns adorning his head, the razor sharp teeth he grinned with, and the darkness enveloping him even in the bright midday sun.

As the man slipped his arms around his little boy, Shiro screamed, "Rin!"

But, even as the name left his lips, his son and the demon vanished, the inky miasma following in their wake. Yukio was crying, tumbling to the floor the two had been at, sobbing. Shiro felt like crying himself, and he stood brokenly as he realized he'd just lost his son.

One part of his mind hurried to try and identify the demon, cataloging all the manifested traits from the demon, the way the miasma had spread, how quickly he had appeared, and concurred that it had been Astaroth. That part of his mind was already reciting the fatal verse for the creature long gone, already mentally patting down the weaponry adorning every crevice of Shiro's body, already soaking adrenaline into his fingertips, eager for a fight.

But, another part, the human in him, cried brokenly. Rin grinning at him, Rin crying, Rin laughing, Rin running, Rin tripping, Rin barely walking, Rin eating messily, Rin demanding to cook, Rin pouting, Rin angry. A thousand and one images blinded him, leaving him breathless with a pain in his chest so tight he clutched the folds of his priestly garbs over it, drawing a hand over his eyes. Rin was gone. The words burned like acid into his mind, and Shiro wondered what would ever be able to patch up the gaping hole in his heart, what would ever make this right again because surely no wound such as this could be healed "with time"?

The very side of him that made him the Paladin, the logical, analytical, cold-blooded ruthless exorcist within him festered with facts and information, telling Shiro things he'd realized as soon as he saw Astaroth grab Rin. Rin was most likely heading to Gehenna tonight, would most likely either be killed or groomed to be a bloodied Prince, would most likely be used as a vessel for Satan in Assiah. Shiro had failed the deal he'd made with Mephisto, had failed Yuri, had failed Yukio.

"Nii-san! Nii-san!"

His remaining son's cries reached his ears, and numbly Shiro made his way to the crying boy, scooping him up and nestling him against his chest. Yukio eagerly accepted, wrapping his arms around Shiro's neck and sobbing against his shoulder. His brother was gone! A demon had taken him! He couldn't protect his brother anymore. Nii-san was gone.

But Shiro did not allow himself any tears. Whirling, the exorcist stalked past the policemen, ignoring their demands and stepping into the monastery. The clergymen were gathered just inside, and Shiro met each of their gazes as the heavy doors swung shut with a final thud, sealing them protectively into the monastery. Yukio started hyperventilating, and Shiro comfortingly began to rub his distraught son's back.

"Tell us what happened!" Murata demanded, pushing forward with his girth and grabbing Shiro's attention.

Like a typhoon anger crashed into him, and Shiro fiercely glared as he gripped Yukio. "Astaroth has taken Rin. They've awakened him." The words were bit out angrily, and the priests reeled back with shock, staring wide-eyed, before settling wearily into battle-mode.

"Gehenna Gate can't be opened until night falls. Astaroth has got to be hiding somewhere until then." Shiro continued, hand softly stroking Yukio's black hair, eyes hard as flint. "I need all of you to go hunt them down." As the words fell from Shiro's lips the priests were already in action, heading into a hidden room concealed by paneled wood to retrieve guns, liquids, and other such weaponry, hiding them within the robes of their priestly garb.

Here, Shiro hesitated. Logically, he knew the best choice would be to leave Yukio with one of the priests and to go hunt down Rin and Astaroth, but his heart bled for both his sons, one of them grieving in his arms.

With a sudden shove Yukio leapt from his arms, startling Shiro so badly he couldn't catch the boy in time, and was left to watch as the younger of his sons landed harshly on the wood floor, grunting and wincing, but nonetheless still managing to level a glare at Shiro.

"You're taking me!" Yukio tartly stated, eyes fierce and determined, and Shiro felt his heart shrink.

But he steeled his mind, and bent down to face Yukio at eye-level, crouching on his toes and balancing, the beads dripping from his glasses clacking, loud in the silence of the monastery. "No, Yukio. You aren't."

Growling, Yukio surged forward, nearly unbalancing Shiro in the process, and scampering away. "I am too, and you can't stop me! I need to save nii-san!"

Coldly, Shiro stood to his full height and stared down at Yukio. "You can't do anything boy. You'd only get in the way. You are going to stay here with Murata, and that's that." With those words Shiro turned sharply on his heel, knowing that behind him he left a sobbing broken-hearted little boy. He could hear Kyodo rushing over to calm the child as Shiro approached the previously hidden cabinet, grabbing a few weapons of the iron-kind, feeling the heavy metals weigh him down comfortably, securely, like they had for so many years.

With the cold decorations hugging him snugly, Shiro easily slid into the role of Paladin, and swiftly spoke his directions, sending the priests to separate areas in the city, with the hopes of finding Rin before darkness fell.

After receiving nods of acknowledgment Shiro left one lingering glance at Yukio, who, having gotten over his fit, stared glassy-eyed at him back, cheeks still stained with tears, because he _knew_ what had taken Rin. Shiro tried to give him a comforting smile, but found that when loaded with weapons, with blood staining his fingers, hands, and arms, and with the disappearance of Rin plaguing his mind, he couldn't really offer the most sincerest of smiles, and so he settled with a grim nod towards Yukio and left the monastery, it's heavy wooden doors, lined with steel, shutting with a thud behind him.

As always when Shiro stepped forth from the monastery in his cossack, people stared, seemed to realize they were being rude, look away, and then steal furtive glimpses at him, wondering all the while if he was hot in the black clothes. Frankly, his clothes had been tailor made to be light-weight, and to have enough slits and carefully placed openings that he could move quite freely in the most seemingly peaceful of clothes.

Today, as usual, he paid no mind to the lingering stares, instead heading with a deep determination to the section he'd assigned himself, keeping a watchful eye on the smaller demons to see if they'd carry any signs.

They were calm, no more agitated than usual, and Shiro sighed, half of his mind, the paladin side, still actively scanning the streets for signs and markings, and the other half, the fatherly one, lingering on Rin.

He'd been avoiding thinking of what would really happen to Rin. Shiro tried desperately to fend off the images of Rin writhing in blue flames, of Rin being controlled by Satan, of Rin being killed by exorcists. Of Rin being murdered…by himself. Breathing heavily, the tall man leant against the shadowed alley wall he'd slipped into, fingertips scraping themselves on the mortar between the bricks as he sought purchase and stability. Because over and over Shiro saw himself being ordered to murder Rin as an eventuality, as a punishment, because he knew just how cruel the Vatican could be.

Shivering, Shiro shook off the morbid images. He'd always been too much of a visual person, he cursed. Feeling strangely out of breath, he continued his search, prowling down alley-ways and busy street-roads alike, pleading, begging, praying that a sign of Rin would pop up.

He headed further and further, widening his search evermore as he found no signs of Rin nor Astaroth, his hand frequently clutching the silent cell in his pocket. But Shiro was stubborn, and he'd faced less hopeful situations. _At least with this mission I have some solid clues_, the exorcist within him whispered, springing forth a hope the father within him dashed in panic.

Soon, Shiro found himself passing the elementary school Rin and Yukio had been attending for two solid years, an impressive record considering how often Rin got expelled-usually for fights. Demons were attracted to Rin instinctively, clustering around him and often invoking negative emotions in those around Rin. Yukio usually saw the signs, and one of the priests would be dispatched to take care of it, under the guise of a parent-teacher meeting.

Fondly, Shiro tried to recall all the fights Rin had gotten into, but found the number was too big, and taking up too much time. Shaking his head, Shiro went on past the empty school, glancing up the find the sun had moved far too much for his liking.

_It's only been ten years_, he thought. Shiro had known a day like this would come, no matter what. Rin showed signs of his demon blood even while his demonic soul was subdued, and Shiro had only hoped it would be much later, at a time when Shiro would've been able to sit down and explain to Rin what the blood running through his veins really was.

Suddenly, a loud buzzing interrupted Shiro's wandering thoughts, startling the exorcist, who then promptly quelled his beating heart and retrieved the cell phone vibrating in one of his many pockets.

Flipping the device open, Shiro took a deep breath and pressed the receiver to his ear, cringing when Nagatomo's voice blasted loudly, as usual. "We've found traces of Astaroth!" Perking up at the news, Shiro demanded locations, and once he received them asked Nagatomo to inform the other priests as well.

Slipping the now silent cell into his pocket, Shiro whirled around to trek back to the monastery, and from there head East. In retrospect, Shiro figured that made sense, since it would be darkest earliest starting in that cardinal direction. Growling at his lack of forethought, and wishing he'd thought to bring a bike or _something_, Shiro hurriedly made his way over to the destined area: the industrial side of town.

True Cross City was a megalopolis worth the adjective. Mephisto made sure of that. Aside from the reputable academy that sat atop the hill the city was built on and around, it's transportation system was swift and sure, with any and all industries making their mark on the city. It's only down-side that most people agreed on (Shiro argued there were many other down-sides, but alas he might just be biased) was the fact that the closer you got to the mountain top, the wealthier and more prosperous the area became. The further from the mountain, the cheaper the people, goods, and overall aspects of the city. But that seems to be the case in most cities, with the wealthy dominating one area, and the poor another, but nonetheless Shiro, even as paladin, resigned himself to living in a monastery far out of the way for the protection of his sons, even if it meant they were a small twenty-minute drive from the industrial side of town.

Now, though, Shiro blessed his home for its approximate location, and when he saw the monastery looming in the distance, he broke out into a run, taking shortcuts that he saw in the virtual map he'd memorized the day he began living in the monastery. Shiro had always been prepared for something like this.

The hard concrete seemed to rise to meet him with every step, and as Shiro neared the industrial mountains of buildings, and began to smell the salty tang of the ocean, he could feel his age wearing down his bones. He grimaced. Age was something you just couldn't avoid.

"Shiro-sama!" Glancing up, he saw it was Izumi gesturing wildly at him with his arms, "Over here!"

Ignoring his enthusiastic antics for once, Shiro headed towards the loud man. "What's going on?" He asked.

Izumi eagerly answered. "Nagatomo said the demons were more agitated than usual heading in this direction, so he followed the trail and found a horrid miasma centered around one of the warehouses. He's been spying and has found Astaroth and Rin, along with a few low to mid-class demons lingering around."

Nodding at the report, he scanned the skies to locate the cursed building and spotted it easily, its inky darkness staining the setting sun in the background. Shiro cursed once more as he found their time was steadily running out.

Quickly, he gathered all the priests, laying out a plan. "Izumi-san, you and Nagatomo-san will take out the lower class demons surrounding the warehouse and inside, while I and Kyodo-san will take on Astaroth. It's gotta be done fast, the sun's already setting," he relayed. Izumi glanced up at the sun and nodded, while Nagatomo eagerly checked once more all the weapons stored on his body, and Kyodo merely nodded, staring hard at the lurking demons.

Confidently, Shiro went over his simple plan in his mind, hope once more bubbling in his chest. This seemed easy. Easy enough that Shiro knew it'd probably go wrong one way or another. Taking a deep breath, the paladin shook off the paranoid thoughts and started forward, knowing the priests behind him would fall in line as usual.

The warehouse was big and large, its entrance conveniently facing the sea and docks, the sun lighting up the large wooden doors. There were no humans around, probably having fled from the nasty feelings the miasma would've given them, but demons meandered around in flocks, their chittering and growling contrasting sharply against the calm crashing waves.

Nagatomo and Izumi surged forward, capturing the simple-minded demons' attention easily. They crowded the two exorcists, snarling and chattering in their demonic tongue. Bypassing the fight already starting, Kyodo and Shiro entered the warehouse easily, the door slipping shut behind them cutting off the noise of demons' screaming and the grunts Nagatomo and Izumi gave as they engaged the creatures.

Inside, the noise was so muffled it was eerily quiet, and a miasma spread throughout the building, not quite strong enough to affect them, but enough to leave the air unsettled. Shiro scanned their surroundings, once more slipping into the role of an exorcist.

Large crates surrounded them, some placed alone on the floor, other towering in stacks. A set of beams was off to the side, forming a pyramid, and small rectangular windows were set high in walls. Rin was nowhere to be found, and Astaroth was equally hidden.

Spreading out, Shiro separated from Kyodo and walked among the crates, rounding the towering ones only to find more.

He walked around every tower with trepidation, around every tower with the thought that _around this one could be Rin_. Yet, every stack of crates Shiro cleared never procured the boy he was looking for. Calmly, Shiro tried to not rush, to not alert the enemy where he was. He'd earned patience over the years - Lord knew he needed it with the twins- but nonetheless his heart beat an angry rhythm, one that had Shiro's blood pumping for a fight. His knuckles itched, aching to slam themselves into Astaroth's borrowed face.

_How big _is _this warehouse_? Shiro wondered impatiently, scowling as he'd yet to find Astaroth or Rin. _What if this is all an illusion? What if he's actually in another warehouse? _But Shiro shot down the idea. Astaroth wasn't a strong enough demon to conjure such powerful illusions.

Suddenly someone was cackling above him, and Shiro raised the gun in his right hand to shoot at the voice before he'd even checked to see it was him. But he knew. He could feel the demonic presence easily, and so he shot.

When he finally caught sight of the demon it was to see Astaroth yowling in pain, clutching an injured arm and reeling backwards off the tower of crates next to Shiro. The paladin cursed. He never thought to really look up as he searched. Astaroth could've been tailing him this entire time for all he knew.

Quickly, Shiro spoke.

"_O Lord, let each be judged according to his deeds.__"_

Growling, Astaroth leapt for him, hands outstretched to grab him, and Shiro retaliated, first shooting the demon in his shoulder before grabbing him and flipping him over, slamming him down into the ground. The exorcist backed away, still speaking.

"_Let sinful conduct beget retribution. Let each pay for that which he has taken. Bring down thy justice upon them. Smite them they never rise again."_

Astaroth screamed in agony, writhing in pain even as he reached once more for Shiro, claws scraping for purchase on the wooden floor, hatred etched into every facet of the poor human's face. Grimacing, Shiro refrained from kicking him in the face, but was sorely tempted to. This was the bastard that had tried to take his son.

"_Blessed be the Lord. My prayer has been answered. The Lord is my helper and he is my shield._

The verse was almost done, with only one line left, and the demon knew it. Curling inky smoke rose from the body laying on the floor before Shiro, eyes gazing with fury at the paladin. A wild, crazy, blood-thirsty smile twisted the demon's face, and a sinking feeling surged down in Shiro's stomach.

From pale lips, Astaroth spoke. "It's already too late."

"_Demon perish where you stand!__"_Shiro yelled, not even bothering to watch as Astaroth was exorcised, turning his back on the demon as he finally felt the larger, uglier, presence Astaroth had desperately been hiding.

Someone else was here.

Heart stuttering, Shiro raced towards the darkest part of the warehouse, coal tars dancing merrily around him as he pushed past them. It was dark now, when did it get so dark so quickly? He could've sworn the sun was still far from being down.

Skirting a corner, he found Kyodo lying face down in a pool of blood from a wound Shiro couldn't find, still, and around him flickers of black miasma emanated from a tall willowy man with a workers uniform, the maniacal grin on his face telling Shiro everything.

And in his arms, sleeping soundly it seemed, was Rin, cradled securely. The demon turned slightly to glance at Shiro.

"It seems Astaroth failed at his job. I'll have to report this to father." Turning from Shiro the man casually retrieved a vial from seemingly empty space, popping off its cap and upending the container. Shiro watched as blood – it couldn't have been anything else- slipped onto the cement floor. The tall man spoke a few words in a demonic tongue, and instead of pooling as liquid ought to, the blood instead formed a rectangle, spreading farther and longer than the amount of blood that fell could've reached.

Shiro watched in numb horror as the Gate of Gehenna was formed, bubbling masses reaching up from the blood the demon had poured, the gate constructing itself from what Shiro could only guess was Satan's blood.

Before the Gate could even begin to start forming, Shiro whipped out the gun loaded with holy-water capsules, firing off several rounds at the willowy demon, who easily deflected them with just a raised hand in their direction. Scowling, as Shiro whipped out the heavier duty weapons he ransacked his mind trying to identify exactly who this demon was. Without the identity, he couldn't recite any verses.

He leveled the weapons at the demon, cursing when he saw that if he did hit the demon, he'd injure the human in the process. _But_, Shiro thought, _sacrifices have to be made_. Quickly whipping out a holy-water grenade, he chucked the canister at the demon, grinning happily when he heard snarls of pain emanate from the now shadowy figure.

He aimed low, for the demon's legs, unwilling to risk putting Rin in the line of fire. He shot off two rounds, one for each leg, and watched baffled as they ricocheted off an invisible barrier, even as the demon choked on the holy gas. He tried two more shots, only to receive the same results as before. A helpless sort of feeling began to take over him, and Shiro watched as the gas cleared, revealing the tall skinny figure of the demon again.

"Who are you," Shiro tried, knowing how dangerous it was to converse with a demon, but also feeling safe in the security that not even Satan could possess him.

"My name is Abaddon, and exorcist you shall find no verse to eradicate me, as you so desperately seek." The words seemed hollow, empty, floating to Shiro as if through a vacuum. Whispery, light, yet still strong.

Desperately, for Shiro was indeed very desperate, he surged towards Abaddon, fists raised, ready to grab Rin and just throw him behind Shiro, regardless of how he might be hurt. Anything was better than having him go to Gehenna, _anything_.

As if anticipating his every move, Abaddon neatly avoided all of Shiro's attacks, grinning once more. "Foolish exorcist, can't you see? I can read your mi-!" He choked, then, suddenly, blood bursting forth from his lips, and now blood was leaking from every orifice, streaming in vivid lengths down his borrowed face. Abaddon cursed. "I thought this body would last longer."

Shiro took his chance, whipping round his pistol to shoot at the demon's shoulder, just above Rin's sleeping head, and for one horrified moment watched in abject terror as a coughing tremor went through Abaddon, moving Rin's head into the line of fire…

The bullet ricocheted as all the others had, and Shiro was torn between relief and annoyance, and fear.

But the Gate had already finished forming. Throwing all caution to the wind Shiro just up and ran at Abaddon and Rin, who was still comatose. He was only feet away when he slammed into the barrier that had been protecting Abaddon this entire time. He struggled, digging his feet into the cement and placing his hands on the barrier, fingertips going white from the pressure.

"Rin!" He yelled, voice barely heard over the gurgling cries of the monsters of Gehenna Gate. "Rin wake up! Rin!" He screamed, beating at the barrier. He tried to toss another grenade, but found it bounced off the barrier, landing with a metal clang on the floor and rolling away. Now, Shiro could feel them, the tears, piercing the corners of his eyes and stuffing a hard rock down his throat. He choked. He was losing his son.

"Rin!" He screamed widly, watching as slowly, carefully, Abaddon laid Rin down on the bubbling mass of inky heads, who cried in delight and wrapped gooey hands around Rin, securing him and slowly dragging him down. Rin's face was in peace, it seemed, as calm as if he was comfortably asleep in his bed at home. Shiro could feel the tears trekking down his rough cheeks, dripping off his scruffy chin, but he didn't care. His baby boy was being taken away.

"Goddammit!" Shiro cursed, punching the barrier so hard he felt the skin over his knuckles split, blood dripping into the crevices of his fingers. "Rin, wake up! Please, you can't leave behind your brother! Rin!"

And then all that he could see was a tuft of dark hair among the masses of swarming heads, and then nothing.

"Rin!" Shiro sobbed.

He thought he heard a harsh baying laughter, but when he looked up he found the formerly possessed body lying bloodied on the cement floor, and Gehenna Gate gone, as if it had never been there in the first place.

In fact, there wasn't even a barrier up anymore, and Shiro staggered past the probably dead man, collapsing onto the floor where the Gate had been, his knees retaliating with brutal pain as he landed on them.

Shiro placed his hands on the floor, as if he by sheer will he could force the Gate to open again and he could drag Rin out, but Shiro had never been one to not look reality in the face, and so he hunched over, covered his face with bloodied hands, and cried.

Rin was gone, and Shiro had done nothing.

* * *

**A/N: And here is the Assiah side of things. **The story will cover both the twin's lives, as both Rin and Yukio face the loss of a brother, and are thrown into a whole new world, (and in Yukio's case, given an incentive entirely more...er, passion-driven).** Most likely, when I feel like it's pertinent to the plot then I'll have the next chapter be of that certain world.**

**I know when we meet Shiro he's shown to be a very youthful old man, who enjoys teasing Rin, but obviously loves his twins very much. I tried to show how much Shiro would struggle beneath the weight of heartbreak and of being a exorcist. As shown during the Kyoto arc, Shiro is not one to sugar-coat reality, and can be quite ruthless, yet merciful. I like to think Shiro's suffered a lot at the hands of a cruel world.**

**I know there wasn't a lot of Yukio in here, but I promise in the upcoming chapters one will focus on how he copes with the loss of his brother! **

**Abaddon is an OC, just fyi. You'll probably see a bit of him in the future, but not much, I promise! I myself don't like fics with too many OC's, so don't expect to see a lot of them.**

**I want to extend a huge thanks to **_A Stranger 0.0 _**, who hit the nail on the head with her review. Thank you so much, you really gave a voice to one of my insecurities about this fic, and I'm glad you have such faith in me! I hope you continue reading :)**

**To everyone who's read, thank you for giving this fic with a cookie-cutter-summary a chance! I hope you've enjoyed reading so far, and I hope you'll continue to read my writings. If you've any thoughts, opinions, advice or critiques please let me know either via PM or a review.**

**Again, if you find any grammar mistakes, spelling errors, or anything that seems odd let me know! **

**Thanks for reading!**

**As of 6/11/14: 4267words**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimers apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

**Edit: The content of chapters 1 and 2 have been switched around to make more linear sense. They've no new information.**

* * *

Ad Captandum

_Chapter 2_

_Gehenna_

* * *

With a heady rush Rin awoke, shooting straight up as memories tumbled over one another to be remembered. Blindly Rin shouted, "Daddy! Yukio!"

Like feathers fingertips ghosted over his outstretched hands, grasping the searching fingertips and tugging them down to rest against the bedspread once more. "Calm down Rin," he said.

Wildly the young boy turned to face his assailant, blinking rapidly, but nonetheless darkness invaded his vision, with slight muffled outlines barely visible. He thought he saw horns. "Who are you?!" He screamed, scuttling backwards only to be seized strongly -yet gently- by the arms. Rin's heart pounded out a tune so erratic he feared it'd never return to normal.

"Rin, calm down." The person reiterated, squeezing Rin's upper arms softly. "I'm not going to hurt you." Soothingly, his left arm was released, and Rin felt a hand thread his hair through it's fingertips. Despite himself, Rin relaxed, the lulling motion reminding him of his father.

"I can't see," Ren cried, hands reaching up rub his eyes fiercely. The hand gripping his right upper arm fell away.

"That's normal. You'll get your sight back in a few moments, don't worry." The man, for that's what he sounded like, reassured. Even as the man spoke Rin's vision was returning, slowly and spottily. Gradually Rin became able to see everything as the man before him hummed softly, a hand still caressing Rin's hair.

The first thing Rin did was focus on the man. He was blond, and so bright it was hard to look at him. It was like staring into the sun. Rin squinted a bit, and found him to be a regular person, which immediately set Rin at ease. The only strange things about him were the straight tuft of hair sticking from his crown, and the very silver like light color his eyes were. The more Rin stared at the man's eyes the more Rin felt like he were staring straight into the sun, blinding him.

"Why are you so bright?" Rin asked, turning away to blink out the sun spots.

The man chuckled. "I am the morning star." At Rin's blank response, the man smiled lightly. "My name is Lucifer."

"Like the devil!" Rin exclaimed, finally whipping back around to stare at the man.

Lucifer laughed quietly again. "Mmm, not quite, but almost there." Confused, Rin ignored the response.

"Where am I?" Rin demanded, glancing away from Lucifer once more -though it was hard to do so. Something made Rin want to just stare at him all day- to look at the room he was in. He sat in a hospital bed, sheets bunched around where Rin sat up. Lucifer was sitting on a stool beside his bed, and the room was large and white, similar to a hospital room. "Am I in the hospital?" Rin asked.

"You are, but not in Assiah. You're in Gehenna."

"Assha-what? Is that a city or something?" The boy asked, stopping his ocular exploration of the room to stare at Lucifer. A placid smile stretched the man's lips, a slight warmth in his eyes calming Rin.

"Assiah. It's a world, parallel to Gehenna." And Rin's uncomprehending stare, Lucifer realized he needed a better explanation. "Think of it as...a mirror." Lucifer said, languidly waving a hand in the air, watching intently as Rin cooed in excitement as the Morning Star conjured a silver gilded mirror. It floated about his hand, slowly revolving, and Rin stared mesmerized. "One one side," here the mirror shifted, and in it's reflection was not the boy's wide eyed gaze but a glimpse of pure blue sky, birds in flight, with the images changing from the view of a city skyline, of people meandering down city streets. "Is Assiah. The world you used to be in. But, on the other side," and then the mirror completed a turn, revealing the other side. All the images before seemed...different. Starting with the last image, instead of humans there were creatures of unimaginable horrors, walking as if they were normal humans. Instead of sleek beautiful birds taking to the skies they were disfigured morbid creatures with shorn wings. And the last image, of an azure sky, was not as vibrant. It was dim, as if someone had grabbed a dark near opaque filter and placed it over the sky. "is Gehenna, the world you live in now. Here, demons live, while in Assiah humans live. Here, is where you are." Lifting his hand, Lucifer watched as the mirror floated into Rin's eager hands, who quickly turned the mirror to and fro, comparing the two worlds.

"Is Gehenna a bad place?"

At Rin's innocent question, Lucifer hesitated. He was not one to corrupt. Meeting the boy's blue eyes, he said, "I think that's something you should decide on your own."

Rin nodded sagely, though Lucifer doubted he truly understood. The youngster glanced down into his hands, where the mirror lay, and sucked in a gasp. Glaring up at Lucifer, he demanded, "How did I get here! I wanna go back home!" As if to prove it, Rin tossed the mirror aside and leapt up from the bed, whirling around to face Lucifer. "Take me home!"

Said man stared passively down at Rin. "I can't. You can only go back the same way you came here- through Gehenna Gate."

"Then take me to this gate!" The hot tempered youth shouted.

"The only one who can do that is your father." As he said these words, he peered at Rin intently. "Would you like to see him?"

"Daddy's here? Take me to him! Come on!" Grabbing Lucifer's very warm hand, Rin tugged the tall man from his chair towards the only door he spotted. He did not notice Lucifer flinch, or stare wearily at their joined hands.

Rin grasped the silver door knob and rushed out into the hall. It was a large looming thing, with glass-less windows covering the majority of it. Rin had no patience to stop and admire the landscape, dull as it was, and instead rounded on the tall man he lead behind him.

"I don't know the way!" Rin said, as if blaming Lucifer for his lack of knowledge. "Come on, go!"

Smiling slightly at Rin's enthusiasm, Lucifer shook of the dredges of guilt that had been plaguing him and started off down the hall, following the overbearing demonic presence his father gave off. Remembering, the man looked back to see Rin scampering after him, struggling to match the much taller man's pace. He obligingly slowed down, though still kept a distance away.

As he approached the large wooden doors, he announced his name to the man standing there, and his request for privacy. The lesser demon nodded and eagerly ran to do his task, leaving Lucifer and Rin waiting outside the throne room.

"Is he in there? Why are we waiting? Is that man going to get him?" Rin asked incessantly, once more grabbing a hold of Lucifer's hand as if to grab his attention. The reserved elder shunted a gaze towards the very much younger boy, but Rin was undeterred by the lack of response. "How long do we have to wait?"

Before Lucifer could think of a way to get out of answering Rin's stubborn questions, the porter returned. "You may enter." The porter waved his hand, and the large doors swung open silently, steadily, and slowly, revealing the room it hid in increments.

Rin was practically dancing by his side, and Lucifer gripped the small child's hand to prevent him from running off.

Down a little ways sat the greatest king of demons, Satan. He was reclined casually in a overbearing throne, one leg thrown over it's side, the other folded on the seat itself. Various foods hovered in the air for the king's picking, and at the moment he was munching on a banana. The airy room was filled to the brim with windows, the only wall space visible being the few inches separating each glass-less window pane. Columns set at intervals stretched from the floor to the ceiling, parallel to the ingrained walkway leading to Satan. The floor was inlaid with marble, and shone spectacularly. The only other person in the room aside from Satan was the porter.

"You're dismissed."

The deep rebounding voice somehow reverberated in the room, and the porter, sensing the command, squeaked and scampered away. The door slid shut with a muted thud, leaving an overtly eager boy, a calm demon prince, and a curious demon king.

"Tell me Lucifer, is this my progeny?" Satan asked, staring intensely at the boy who had only glanced briefly at him before allowing his eyes to roam every crevice of the room.

Rin spoke before Lucifer had a chance to. "Hey, where's my dad? I thought you'd said he was in here!" Rin stared accusingly at the tall man who's hand he held.

Killing two birds with one stone, Lucifer released the hand he held to gesture towards Satan. "This is your father."

Passively, the elder demon watched as Rin followed, his head turning and his eyes finally truly looking at Satan.

He was a seemingly good looking young man, perhaps in his mid-twenties, with thick straight dark blue hair falling down to past his shoulders, eyes of the lightest possible blue alighting on Rin with the most penetrating stare it left the boy uneasy. He was clad in nothing but pants that clung to his hips loosely, and ended at his calves, hanging and softly billowing as if a personal wind whirled around the Demon Lord, tugging on long tresses of hair. Truly, he looked more angelic than demonic.

Rin tore his eyes away from Satan - for like Lucifer, it seemed hard to not stare at him- to glare at Lucifer. "That's not my dad." Here, he shuffled a few feet away, folded his arms, and tried his best to imitated the disappointed look his father had worn so well sometimes. The look that made Rin feel guilty and uneasy and sorry. "My dad is a lot older than him!" Rin pointed a wayward finger at Satan, who at Rin's proclamation laughed long and hard, bending double.

Lucifer stared at Satan until the greater demon regained his bearings, still chuckling as he refocused on Rin. "My boy, I am much older than I seem."

Rin was confused. "You don't have any wrinkles though. I'm not stupid!" He scampered a few steps closer so as to see Satan better, and nodded when he confirmed his earlier thoughts. "You're only a couple of years older than me!"

"Ah, but I am the King of all Demons, I am bound to be immortal, no?" Satan grinned.

Rin frowned, but before the boy could conjure a response Satan grinned ferally, leaning in his seat so that his face was dangerously close to Rin's. The black-haired youth froze, fear pounding in his veins suddenly.

"And you, being my son, would be immortal too, no?"

His words struck Rin, who laughed uproariously. "Hahaha! Didn't I just say I wasn't stupid? Okay _Dad_, got any proof?"

Not deterred, Satan settled into his seat once more, leaning on his bent elbow that rested against the arm of his throne, the other hand lazily lifting in the air. Rin watched intrigued as a whirling ball of blue flames spun into existence in Satan's hand, growing in size until a veritable inferno revolved hungrily, it's soft heat like soothing balm to Rin's skin.

"If you weren't my son, you would be burned by this." Before Rin could truly comprehend Satan's words, the Demon Lord flicked his wrist, sending the ball of flames at Rin like a torpedo, the boy in question staring wide-eyed in shock as the flames consumed him, wrapping around his frame and curling through his hair.

He screamed, dropping to the floor and patting at his arms, clothes, face, legs, wildly, wide-eyed and uncontrollable. Along with Satan's flames burst forth his own, turning him into a human pyre that licked the top of the vaulted ceiling.

"Relax, boy," came Satan's voice, invading the flames to reach Rin's ear. His deep voice resounded thoroughly. "They aren't hurting you, are they?"

At the prompt, Rin opened his shut eyes and gazed at his unmarked arms through the haze of blue, marveling at how it did not burn but was actually..._warm_. Like a blanket fresh out of the dryer there was comfort in being wrapped in these blue flames, and as Rin calmed down the inferno that had been his own blue flames dissipated, leaving on Satan's, who, with a slight flick of a finger, vanquished the rest, leaving the poor confused boy sitting on the marble floor before his father.

His father grinned victoriously, finally unfolding from his chair to stand by Rin. He bent and easily picked up the ten year old, grasping him gently and tucking him into the crook of his arm. He gazed up at Rin, who stared wide-eyed back at him, his azure human eyes fascinating the Demon King.

"See, my son, this who you are."

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, my portrayal of Satan is a bit iffy, but from what I've seen in the manga, I think he's kind of a merciless humorous laid back kind of guy, who wields his power effortlessly and indulgently. At the same time, I think he's keen on keeping everything under control, so perhaps not _so_ loose-fingered, but alas, I digress. Anywho, I'll keep Satan vaguely mean, humorous, merciless, and power-indulgent. **

**Also, for those who think I've made Lucifer up...lol this story's full of spoilers, so if you've not read the latest chapter and don't wanna be spoiled, I suggest you don't read it. Onwards!**

**Lucifer, on the other hand, seems very calm as he is portrayed in the manga. Kinda quiet, kinda serious, and not entirely gung-ho on killing Rin (which kinda makes me hope they'll be bros, though I doubt it). Lucifer is the Morning Light, so I'll just assume that even when not in his shining glory, he's probably still very bright to look at it. Lucifer is also not very used to kids (or kinda has never actually talked to one before. Awkward!Lucifer? lol!)**

**As always, if you've found any grammer or spelling mistakes, or just anything that seems **_weird_ **please let me know! I hope you've enjoyed my story so far, and that you'll review letting me know what you think or feel!**

**As of 5/30/14: 2184 words**


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

* * *

_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 3_

_Gehenna_

* * *

"I'm not a demon!" Rin yelled, like a mantra the familiar words sprung from his lips, and he pushed away from Satan in distress. Landing nimbly on his feet - because he's always been athletic- Rin scampered away from the tall dark-haired man.

Satan laughed unkindly. "But that's exactly what you are. These blue flames," he brandished his hands, flames jumping wildly in the space between them, "are evidence of your blood." Without warning Satan took two long strides to crouch before Rin mockingly, grinning ferociously as he allowed the flames balled within his hands to grow large and consume them once more. Rin couldn't breathe, watching as the blue light surrounded them, becoming all that he saw. He slowly shook his head.

In his mind's eye he could see Shiro, his _real _dad, smiling at him, and Rin glared at the impressive looming man before him. "You're not my dad."

Satan's grin finally fell, and the flames around them vanished without so much as a moments notice, disorienting Rin who blinked a few times to adjust to the dull monochrome state Gehenna seemed to permanently be in.

Apparently having lost interest, Satan turned idly on his heel, heading towards the wide windows. "Lucifer," he called, "let Craizo know I'm taking the rest of the day off." And with that, he leapt from the window sills, his long trailing black-blue hair the last thing Rin saw.

Rin ran to the window and gazed down, only to see Satan whole and healthy, flying away nonchalantly. Gaping, Rin turned towards Lucifer.

"Did you see that?" Rin demanded, rushing towards Lucifer to grab the elder's hand. Before Rin's fingers could even graze Lucifer's, though, the Sub-Demon King wrenched his hand away, staring in consternation at the eager little boy.

Shrugging off the rejection, Rin pointed at the windows. "He jumped out the window! He flew!" Piercing blue eyes met light sun-colored eyes, eyes that shifted away.

Lucifer shrugged, a human mannerism he'd picked up somehow in Assiah. "He's a demon god. He has powers unlimited, he's a perfect entity," the words fell from Lucifer's lips like a rote- for that's what they were, words that had been beat into him for years.

Rin was silent for a few moments, thinking. Petulantly, Rin gazed up at Lucifer who was unable to tear his eyes away from the striking blue orbs pleading with him. "I wanna go home," Rin cried, face crumpling as his eyes became shiny. He didn't want to be here, where the sky was a weird blue, where people set him on fire and where Yukio and his Dad weren't here!

He tried again to reach for the hand of the elder demon, and this time Lucifer backed away from Rin completely, placing a lengthy distance between himself and the grasping child. Hesitantly, Lucifer looked around. There was no one. Did Satan mean to have _Lucifer_ care for this child?

"Take me home!" Rin shouted angrily, stamping his foot in a tantrum that Shiro would have never let him get away with, and that Lucifer didn't know how to deal with. How did one..._handle_ a human child? Or a half-human half-demon creature? Or, mostly human but with his demon soul stored away? Shaking his head, Lucifer quietly admitted that he didn't know how to take care of children at all, human or demonic, or anything in between.

Growling, flames burst forth from Rin, surrounding his tiny frame, making him look so much like a miniature Satan Lucifer wanted to laugh but found that he couldn't.

"Why won't you take me home?!" Rin yelled again, frustrated at the demon's lack of response. All he did was stare, stare, and _stare_ at Rin, as if he had green skin! "Why won't you say _something_?"

Taking a deep breath, Lucifer finally spoke. "The only way to get home is to go through Gehenna Gate." Rin looked at him sharply, opening his mouth to say something, but Lucifer continued. "And the only way to get to Gehenna Gate is to ask your father...Satan."

"He's not my dad!" But, even so, Rin angrily whirled around to rush back towards the windows, but there was no sign of the demon lord, and Rin cried. He couldn't go home. He was stuck here, and he wanted to go home right _now_!

"Don't cry," Lucifer said blandly, still maintaining his distance. "You can ask when he comes back. But you're going to stay here anyways. Satan's not letting you go."

Lucifer quickly found that he probably shouldn't have said those words, as Rin began to cry in earnest, and, baffled, Lucifer quietly stood there.

Finally, after some moment's time, the elder demon spoke, capturing Rin's attention with the soft way his words fell in the room. "Come, I'll escort you to your room."

And this time, when Rin reached for him, Lucifer felt a twinge in his long dormant heart, and pityingly allowed the small child to grasp his hand. Together, the tall blond led them to the little prince's prepared rooms.

Rin cried so hard snot dripped from his nose, and with his free hand he wiped away the liquids, careless of how they smeared on his clothes. But it would have bothered Yukio, and thoughts of his strait-laced overtly clean brother cleared away the last of Rin's tears. If Yukio saw him now, he'd be disappointed. In fact, Rin was disappointed in himself. He was a big brother! When he finally got reunited with his family, Rin wouldn't be able to face Yukio with the knowledge that all Rin had done was cry.

Mindless of the halls and turns they took, they finally stopped in front of another impressive set of doors, nowhere near the size of the throne room's, but formidable in their own right. Quietly, for he'd spent himself crying, Rin followed Lucifer in to his designated rooms. They entered a foyer that was pristine in a theme of whites and golds, a some-what odd looking person standing just off to the side of another set of white doors. He bowed low at the waist when Lucifer and Rin walked past him into another room. Rin groaned, wandering how long they'd have to walk, and how many more doors they'd go through. He was verging on sleep-walking.

His tired state didn't last long, however, when he saw his rooms. They were H-U-G-E. Rin almost cracked his neck trying to see the shadowed vaulted ceiling of his room. A set of couches around a large rug were situated next to tall once-again-glass-less-windows, a wall of books taking up another corner, and in another a medium sized table complemented by straight backed chairs. By the couches was another door, and straight across the room from that door was another set. The first-named door was nondescript in appearance, wooden and brown, but the other doors were large, white, and designed in curling deep blue decals.

"Is this all mine?!" Rin excitedly asked, peering around the room at every couch. But before Lucifer could answer, Rin demanded, "Hey, where's my bed? Where am I sleeping? On the couch?"

The dark-haired boy whirled on the blond, only to be chastised by an impatient frown marring the latter's face. Clearing his throat, Lucifer said, "Your bed is through those doors," here he gestured towards the impressive set of white doors. Then he pointed towards the lone plain brown door, and said, "And this is a rest room."

"I have _two _rooms?" Rin was in shock. Back at home, he had to share a room and bunk-bed with Yukio. These couldn't possibly be his own rooms.

But Lucifer nodded in agreement, and, flabbergasted, Rin once more was inclined to quietly trail behind the powerful blond.

The set of white doors swung open on silent hinges, and this room, while much more magnificent in detail, was suitably smaller for a room meant to be slept in. A grand fireplace was set several feet away from the foot of an equally, if not more, grand four-poster bed, dripping in several layers of transparent curtains, completely hiding the depths of his bed from outside view, A small sitting table was off to the side, accompanied by a sofa, a lounge chair, more rugs, another set of bookcases, and all sorts of decorative features suitable for a prince but entirely ill suited for Rin, who scanned the grandeur of the room and scowled.

Feeling uneasy, and vaguely irritated, Rin tore his gaze from the entirely too magnificent room of his and turned wavering blue eyes on Lucifer, who seemed to find himself more and more uncomfortable in the princeling's presence.

"Yes?" Lucifer ventured, avoiding Rin's gaze to instead focus on the wonderfully thick shock of black hair adorning Rin's hair. He knew it be soft, for as the child had slept Lucifer –who'd never personally encountered young children before, and never one like _Rin_\- had shifted the ebony locks away from the cherubic face.

For Rin _was_ a fallen angel. It was in their blood, descended from Satan as they were, and so Rin had attained the attractive alluring features all of their family had. They were _angelic_, to be short, and no one could ever deny that any one of their blood was eye-catching. So, granted, Rin had been the first beautiful child he'd ever lay eyes on, yet, when Rin had opened his startling bright blue eyes, Lucifer had been taken aback.

Even if Rin looked like an angel, it did not mean he was one. For all intents and purposes, Rin was considered human, and could still die like one while his demonic soul was sealed away, and so Lucifer withdrew his hand, afraid that too careless of a touch would crumple the brilliant blue eyes, soft black hair, and rosy red cheeks. In short, Lucifer was quite afraid of touching Rin, like he was of all children younger than fifteen.

For if there was one golden shining mark in Lucifer's heavy blood dripping ledger, it was that he did not kill nor touch innocents. If he found any corruption, than without mercy Lucifer could face the soul and obliterate it. But innocents did not deserve that, and so he avoided them.

"Am I going to sleep alone?" Rin asked, watching the cat-like twitches Lucifer gave off. Rin had never slept alone in his life, and he was loath to start.

Predictably, the blond's answer was callous, confused, apathetic, and without foresight. "Of course. Who would be sleeping with you here?"

Sobering, Rin glanced down at his shoes, the dull light in Gehenna turning the white sneakers into some off color that did not offer any comfort to Rin. In fact, not a single thing here would be familiar to Rin, what with its twisted colors. Rin thought that even if he saw his own reflection it would be no more intimate than if he were to look at Satan's or Lucifer's.

Suppressing more tears as reality began to sink in, quietly Rin asked if it was time to go to bed. Though the sun would not set for a few more hours and Rin had slept from yesterday afternoon a whole twenty-four hours and then some, Lucifer thought Rin would be tired anyways, and so acquiesced that, indeed, it was time for Rin to head to bed.

"However," Lucifer said, "you will be woken early. Satan will have you thoroughly trained."

And before Rin could ask exactly what he meant by _trained_, Lucifer vanished from the room, the white door settling shut with a muted thud that Rin barely heard. Feeling the tears spilling over and blurring his sight, Rin rushed through the many layers draping his canopied bed, not caring if he tore or ripped the flimsy delicate materials, only finding solace that, as he crouched in heartbreak on the soft bed, the curtains shifted back into place to completely hide him from view. No one could see him cry then.

And Rin cried. Loneliness settled like a rock in his heart, and thoughts of Shiro, Yukio, and the priests could not hold the pain at bay. He wished desperately to be with them, to be at home. He could even see it in his mind's eyes, the way the monastery loomed in the night, how if one stood right in front of the intimidating iron gates surrounding the grounds, the overwhelming building would cover even the moon. But, stars would wink at him around the dark figure, and inside would be warm with lit traditional scones casting a warm light on the wooden pews he hated to sit on. And in a room off to the side, everyone would sit around the dinner table, heads bowed, an uneaten dinner sitting before them. And everyone would look sad because at the chair Rin normally sat in would be an empty seat, and even the one next to his, Yukio's, would be vacant because his twin would have been locked up in their room, sobbing out his heartbreak just as Rin was. And Shiro would linger in the darkness in his study, an open bottle of liquor resting on his heavy wooden desk, a used glass toppled beside it as the grand priest, who'd always stood tall and proud in Rin's memories, hunched over and began to sob.

These vivid images settled behind Rin's closed eyelids, and hesitantly, fitfully, the tired young boy fell into a heavy sleep, dreaming of happier times as the light in Gehenna slowly melted from a fiery orange hue into one of muted blues, purples, and nightly colors.

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**A/N: Hallo! Thanks for reading! A rather short chapter, I feel, but poor baby Rin is exhausted.**

**Friendly reminder that Rin is ten years old, and has probably been with his twin his whole life. And _PLEASE_, before anyone suggests it, NO, Lucifer is not a pedophile and will never be one nor hold any sort of romantic feelings for Rin. If there's any **_feelings_ **in the future between the two it will be entirely intrafamilial and of the paternal sort. Lucifer, like most people who've never handled children in their life, has no idea how to go about conversing, interacting, or generally being familiar with them. He's **_awkward_**, in short. **

**I feel like I've made Rin cry too much, but then I think, "**_He's been introduced to the world of demon's in the most unpleasant way possible, almost got eaten, has been set fire too many times to count, just got told he's demonic himself, got separated from his family, is in whole nother world, and might possibly just stay in that world. He's kinda got the right to be an emotional_ wreck**." **

**And, one last note: I've left a tremendous hint in here. If anyone can find it, or get close to it, or even identify what it is, y'all would be awesome. **

**And so, the usual drill. If you've found any grammar or spelling mistakes or something weird, please let me know so I can fix it! Thank you for reading so far, and I hope you're enjoying the story!**

**Until next time!**

**As of 6/19/2014: 2271 words**


	5. Chapter 4-1

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

****Announcement! I'm considering whether or not the change the summary for this story. Please, head over to my profile and place your vote for one of the seven summaries I've put forth as options! ****

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_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 4.1_

_Assiah_

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Yukio had been crying so much, he wondered why his eyes hadn't fallen out. The azure-eyed boy knew it was impossible for his eyes to pop out just cause he's cried too much, but nonetheless the thought was there, and, even more inevitable, the thought reminded him of Rin, and his heart echoed in pain once more.

Having never been truly separated from his twin before Yukio had not realized exactly how valuable Rin was to him. He'd known, on some respect, that Yukio could not live without Rin- it was the very reason Yukio had begun to train as an exorcist. Yet, knowing and _knowing _were entirely different matters and it was a difference Yukio felt sorely.

Wisely, the priests, including Shiro, had decided to leave Yukio alone, for which the grieving youngster was grateful. He didn't want to look at anyone, didn't want to _be_ with anyone. If Rin wasn't there, than Yukio would rather be alone than surround himself with people who could never truly understand what it feels like to lose your twin.

Gritting his teeth at the thought, Yukio curled in on himself on the bed Rin slept on, the bottom bunk, because when they'd received the dual-natured bed Rin had complained incessantly on how if he had the top bunk he'd break his leg every morning climbing out of his bed half-asleep. And even though Yukio had wanted the bottom bunk himself, he'd relented on the argument, throwing a snide comment in that Rin would break his leg with or without the bed's help. Rin's only response had been a whoop for joy as he, in his mind's eye, had won the argument.

Wrapped in Rin's covers, Yukio found no comfort. His mind, too fast, too logical, and too cold for his own liking, already had found and acknowledged the cruel facts of life. Rin was gone, was in Gehenna, would be used as a vessel for Satan in Assiah, and was most likely being introduced to a cold merciless life. The only solace Yukio found was that Kurikara was whole, unbroken, and still safely stored away behind the door who's only entrance could be gained from the key swinging from Shiro's key ring.

But, it was not enough comfort for Yukio, who could only ever find true peace in Rin's return. The bright happy grin flashed in his mind again, and Yukio thought that, no matter how brave a front Rin would be putting on, he would most likely be crying too. Rin had always been the more emotional of the two, or, rather, the easiest to act on their emotion. Yet, Rin had a kind of strength in his heart that Yukio had selfishly depended on, and now, without the support, he found himself crumbling.

_I will get him back_, Yukio vowed viciously. _Even if I have to march in to Gehenna myself, I will get my brother back_.

The heavy words echoed in Yukio's mind, and the spent youngster found himself lulled to sleep by his heart-felt promise. _Tomorrow_, he thought, _I'll start tomorrow. _

It felt like moments later when Yukio shot up in bed, the sound of breaking glass, tearing wood, and terrified starts of yells yanking the boy from his sleep mercilessly.

Scrambling from Rin's bed, Yukio tripped and jammed his chin on the wooden floor boards, squeezing his eyes tight in pain for but a moment before he kicked the covers tangling his feet away, readjusted his skewed glasses, and grabbed the door handle even as he got his wayward feet under him.

Yukio pounded down the hallway, almost throwing himself down the stairs, breath getting caught in his throat because he recognized the snarling noises emanating from downstairs, suddenly felt the aura's pressing in on him even from here.

Skirting a corner and nearly slipping on the waxed floorboards, Yukio choked as the demonic sight greeted him.

The large chapel, formerly orderly with rows of softly polished wooden pews and tame flickering candles, was now exploding in chaos, fire chewing at the crushed pews, demons clinging from every imaginable surface, and _that demon_, the one who'd taken Rin away, standing in the center of it all, his curling horns glinting in the fiery light, the wide sharp-toothed grin sending shivers down Yukio's spine in waves of fear and hatred.

The priests were in a semi-circle curving towards the hoards of demon's demolishing the monastery, flames bellowing from one priests, gun shots ringing from another, and loud chanting words vanquishing other demons.

Stunned as he was, Yukio took in the sight quickly and hunted the room for his father, but he couldn't find the crown of white hair he knew belonged to Shiro's, could not locate the tall proud figure in his black robes.

"My lord?"

The astonished, angry, voice drew Yukio's attention, and he screamed in fear when he found Astaroth mere inches from his face, a cold hand gripping Yukio's shoulder, searing through from his clothes to burn his skin.

"My lord how did you-" Astaroth continued, staring at Yukio in a mixture of puzzlement, strange fear, unbridled anger, and a respect that terrified Yukio, who was now silent in pounding terror. Clarity cleared the demon's eyes, before they became clouded in a predatory gaze that froze Yukio's heart. "No…you are _not _my lord. Who _are_ you?" Astaroth demanded, his hand fiercely clutching Yukio's chin now, ushering forth more tears that blurred his azure eyes.

Then, blood spurted forth from Astaroth's chest, staining Yukio's cheeks, and when a crimson droplet landed in his eye he flinched and squeezed them shut, arms rising to cover his face as the demon released his chin. Trembling, Yukio could still hear the screams of demons and the sounds of their fight, and Astaroth's enraged growl reverberated in Yukio's ears, and the younger twin thought his heart would stop in fear, would just up and go dead from how hard it was beating in his chest.

"Exorcist!" Astaroth screamed, and hesitantly Yukio peeked from between his upraised arms. There, behind Astaroth's crouching figure, was Shiro, blood dripping down his face from a gash hidden by his thick white hair but detectable by the crimson liquid dyeing it. One hand held a loaded gun pointed securely at Astaroth, the other bringing a holy water filled grenade towards his curled lips, Shiro's teeth clinching the pin.

When the grenade exploded, the sound of releasing gas muted all other sound for a moment, and Yukio gained clarity. Swallowing all and any fear, Yukio knew he would remember all his exorcist training, and he ducked towards the right, disappearing among rows of demolished pews, ignoring the snarling screams of pain of Astaroth behind him. He was a demon, he'd taken Rin. The bastard deserved to suffer.

_In fact_, thought Yukio as he crouched in the debris, azure eyes going steely cold as he surveyed the damage done on Astaroth's borrowed skin in curling bloody lesions, _Astaroth_ _hasn't suffered_ enough.

An idea occurred to him suddenly, and the morbid delight it brought to him did not deter him morally as Yukio easily navigated the background, using his small figure to dart between heaps of demolished furniture. The side panel was just a few feet from the entrance, and several feet from where he was, and he crossed the distance quickly.

Yukio pressed the hidden wooden panel, and when it revealed the handle he felt his lips stretch in a feral grin. He snagged the handle in a childish hand, gripped tight, and pulled.

A sharp ringing sound reverberated in the high ceiling of the church, and sprinklers emitted holy water, eliciting screams of pain from the demons. From where he stood Yukio could see Astaroth curling over his seared arms, could see smoke rising from his charred back as continuous holy water soaked the demon. The face contorted in pain gave a kind of closure Yukio did not know he needed nor demanded, but was glad he'd achieved. _This_ is what he'd do to any demon between him and Rin. He'd make them _suffer _just like Yukio was, and just like Shiro was, and surely just like Rin was.

Several of the lower class demons vanquished from the water, and the exorcists now had an easier time getting rid of the rest.

Yukio tore his eyes away from them to scan the smoking, soaked, torn chapel for his father, but the red-eyed man was nowhere to be found.

Feeling anxious, the dredges of his sadistic pleasure fell away, to be pushed behind a growing worry as Yukio could not find Shiro once more. He'd been bleeding heavily from his head, and while logically Yukio knew head wounds bled a lot, he also logically knew that blood loss was no light matter. Apprehension snagged at Yukio's heart, and the youngster could feel the organ thumping uneasily.

Not paying any mind to the suffering demons surrounding him, Yukio made his way through the destroyed chapel, searching, hunting, hoping to find Shiro somewhere. The water had soaked his clothes, made them stick like a second skin that chafed uncomfortably where his skin rubbed against his body, dripped his black locks into his eyes continuously and developed large water droplets on his glasses that Yukio had to frequently wipe away using an equally soaked shirt.

He was having a hard time breathing again, but, as he drew closer to the heart of the battle and ignored further the worried calls of the priests, Yukio finally spotted his bloody father.

The paladin lay against a heap of wooden, the dark material of his clerical clothing damp and heavy not only with the holy water but with blood, discernible only where it stained Shiro's tanned skin.

Holding back a sob, Yukio felt all of his ten years weigh down in his knees, and he collapsed onto them by his father, gripping the collars of Shiro's clothes, headless for once how he became dirtied from the action.

"Daddy!" Yukio cried, bending down to press his face into Shiro's chest.

But Shiro was having none of it as he roughly pushed Yukio away, causing the young boy to fall back on his hands.

"You stupid boy!" Shiro cursed, glaring fiercely at Yukio, who felt like crying all over again. "Why are you here? No, go! Go hide!"

Obeying, Yukio staggered to his feet, but was stopped by a triumphant yell.

Somehow, without Yukio noticing, the sprinklers had stopped, and at the head of the room stood Astaroth, fallen priests scattered like petal throughout the chapel, and in Astaroth's clawed hands was clutched the black scabbard of Kurikara. Behind Astaroth was the ruined remains of a sealed room, brutishly torn into by sheer force to reveal it's location.

Yukio felt his blood run cold as Astaroth slowly drew the blade, the sound of the metal somehow reaching Yukio's ears even from several feet away. The young boy watched in numb horror as Astaroth swung the blade around in a blue fiery circle, gave a few experimental swipes, gripped it bare handedly in his two hands, and broke it with a laborious grunt.

A raging roar came from the broken blade as Rin's demonic soul was released, blue flames escaping wildly and surrounding Astaroth who screamed mindlessly in pain. The flames grew so large and bright Yukio couldn't see, and he cried out as he shielded his eyes from the intense light.

He could feel warmth wash over his skin and rifle through his hair, felt it dry his soaked clothes and pass his unsteady figure, to fill the entire room. He heard more broken glass as the flames pressed against the few still lingering windows and then expanded beyond it.

And then it was all gone.

Blinking for a few moments, Yukio waited disoriented as his sight slowly returned, spotted colors dancing in his vision. He could hear Shiro moving beside him, wood creaking and pattering onto the floor as the paladin stood. The other exorcists' groans were the only other sound permeating throughout the broken monastery, and when Yukio could finally see, there were no demons around.

Disbelieving, Yukio turned round and round, searching for even one scoundrel. But the blue flames had done them all in, even Astaroth, and there was no evidence left. All that remained was the slightly damp wood and the humans loitering around in various degrees of pain.

Finally, the younger twin turned to stare at his father, and was shocked still at the absolute heartbreak on Shiro's face, and the tears shining unshed in the blood red eyes of his father. Quietly, Shiro gathered Yukio into his arms, pressed a shuddering breath into Yukio's neck, and then desperately gripped the boy's arms.

Crying openly, Yukio felt his heart break a thousand times over as he found Rin to still be gone, his house destroyed, and his immovable solid dependable father break down on him. Yukio was finding everything he'd depended on being ripped away or torn to shreds, and all that he was left to stand on was his mangled heart, lonely soul, and achingly young years.

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**A/N: ****Announcement! I'm considering whether or not the change the summary for this story. Please, head over to my profile and place your vote for one of the seven summaries I've put forth as options! Your vote could decide the future face this story will have :)**

**Yukio can be cruel, and children can be cruel, so together I think child Yukio is pretty frightening.**

**Frankly, I'm dissatisfied with this chapter. I wrote this on a feverish high at some 2 in the morning, and when I came back to review it I found SO many mistakes... But, it's not only that. Perhaps the pacing of it...too fast? IDK, but I'll probably come back to further edit this chapter until it fits my liking. **

**And here begins Yukio's character development. We all know he's a pretty independent kid...but that's always been **_with_ **Rin. Without his dependable, solid, older brother, how will Yukio fair alone? Poor kid's probably traumatized, what with a demon attack in the middle of the night, a broken home, a broken father, a broken heart, and a broken sword. Will Yukio be able to patch everything together again, or will he build on this destroyed foundation in the hopes everything will be alright? Read to find out ;)**

**And, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Everyone who reviewed, you've made me so happy, I'm practically falling apart with giddiness! **BlackWitchesCat **pointed out that Lucifer is the eldest of 7 brothers, so shouldn't he have experience? My answer to that is that Nope. Lucifer never interacted with hardly any of his siblings until they were of a much older, corrupted, age, but Lucifer still retains a familiar attachment to them. As to the reason why Lucifer was absent in his younger siblings bringing-up, that will be explained in later chapters.**

**Some of you might be wondering (or might not have noticed at all), that chapter 1.1 is now just 1, chapter 1.2 is now just 2, and what was formerly chapter 2 is now 3. I promise the contents haven't been switched around again, I just made a mistake. When a chapter has a decimal, such as this one (4.1), it means every chapter with a decimal have taken place in the same time frame. For instance, chapter 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3 would have all occurred within a good 12 hours. But, so far the story has been sequential with quite a number of hours passing between each chapter. For example, directly after the prologue the events of chapter 1 occurred, and a good 20 hours passed between chapter 1 and 2, while the contents of chapter 3 happen directly after chapter 2. And chapter 4's events happen a few hours after chapter 3's. The next chapter, 4.2, will occur at/around/during the same time as this chapter.**

**If this has been overly confusing, I can explain further in a private message. Please let me know. For now, a final review: Any chapters with a decimal suggest that the contents of each chapter are occurring simultaneously.**

**As always, if you've discovered any grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, or something just not sitting right within your reading mind, please let me know! I'm still without a beta, but I try my best! Love and kisses, thanks for reading, and adieu!**

**ALSO! Don't forget to vote :)**

**As of 6/25/2014: 2189 words**


	6. Chapter 4-2

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

**A/N: The poll is still up, please check it out and vote!**

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_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 4.2_

_Gehenna_

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With a sharp cry Rin shot up from his sleep, groaning in pain as he erupted in flames. His ears…oh gods what was happening to his ears? They felt like they were…_growing_.

In disbelief, Rin made to touch them only to fall forward on to his hands as something erupted from the bottom of his spine, and he fell completely on his stomach as he lost any and all balance. He couldn't tell what was up or what was down anymore, and he felt nauseous. Saliva accumulated in his mouth, and Rin spat it out, heedless of where it fell. He erupted into blue flames with a raging roar, burnt cloth overwhelming his senses as he squeezed his eyes shut, his heart thundering in his chest so loudly it was all he could hear.

Curling in fear, terror, and shock Rin could only wait out the changes ransacking his body. The canines of his teeth sharpened so quickly they pierced his lips, drawing blood that dribbled down his chin and onto the pristine white covers beneath him. As quickly as the wound was created, though, it sealed, and Rin could literally feel the fibers of his skin reattach and sew themselves together.

His ears elongated, the tips of them reaching further back towards his head than was normal, and with shaking hands Rin fingered the curve of them, trembling and disoriented. Flames curled around his hunched frame, charring the covers he lay on and the canopy above him, destroying the bed. The smell of charred wood came to join the burnt cloth, and another smell. It was sharp, pinched, like lemon juice squeezed into your eye (which wasn't even a smell, but that's what it reminded Rin of), and it made him gag again on the utter thickness of the odor permeating the air around him. _Fear_.

Suddenly, he could _hear_, and _smell_ and _see_. He must've been blind before, had ear wax piled up, and something up his nose because there was such clarity as there never was before that all Rin could focus on was what his senses were feeding him, his eyes now open but seeing nothing.

Outside his room a demon –he could _feel_ it's demonic presence- was fidgeting, cowering under his own demonic presence.

Attention captured by his own aura, Rin felt around through it, how far it went, had big it was, how heavy it felt. It was like a very tangible, but transparent, barrier that cocooned Rin, that declared his birthright, and demonstrated his power. It filled his room, spilling all around him in undulating waves that Rin could feel made the much lower demon in the foyer of his rooms flinch in fear.

As Rin focused on his aura he felt another approaching.

Even from far away Rin cringed in abject fear as he could feel the promised pain, the raw power, the sheer magnitude of the demon coming closer.

Crouching as best he could, Rin lumbered clumsily towards the furthest corner in his canopied bed, ignoring the burnt smell and painful scent permeating the enclosed space and the utter decimation of the spot of the bed he'd been crouching over. His flames were dying down anyways, Rin thought to comfort himself, the demon won't be able to see the flames.

But no words could comfort Rin when he _knew_ now how much danger he was in. Just like he knew the sky was blue, grass was green, and Yukio was his twin, Rin knew that demons were dangerous, with a much more worse promise than a scraped knee in store.

With clammy hands he tugged the ruined covers up and over his trembling form, his heart bursting into palpitations Rin felt he'd experienced too often. Old Rin had thought the promise of a scolding and punishment from Shiro was fear, but now, _now_ Rin had a horribly detailed insight on to exactly what could incite fear from him.

The demon had passed the foyer, quiet words exchanging between the much stronger demon and the weak, frail, one standing in the room, and Rin could hear the near silent woosh the door gave as the overwhelming demonic presence entered his first room. He slapped a sweaty hand over his lips, trying to quiet the heavy breaths. Blood rushed in his ears. In the darkness of the thick covers Rin could barely see the outline of his hand, let alone of anything outside the cocoon he'd shrouded himself in.

He could hear the door handle of his room turn, the well-oiled mechanics obeying their purpose and allowing entrance to his rooms. Rin had never truly entertained the thought of danger, of not being safe, because childishly it had never occurred to him that he'd be in a situation where safety was a concern.

He was scared. His heart thundered so hard it overwhelmed his panicking lungs, and Rin was short of breath, a hand over his mouth and another clutching at the cloth in front of his heart, nails digging in to touch skin and somehow distract him from the fear.

"Rin," the demon said, wary, soft. As if Rin might still be asleep.

Instantly, everything in Rin relaxed, and he crawled sobbingly from his fort, bursting forth from the multitude of covers and somehow managing to land trembling arms around Lucifer's waist, pressing a tear-stained face into the soft silky cloth the blond demon wore.

Hesitantly, as if afraid, Lucifer's hand hovered round Rin's shaking shoulders. "Are you okay?" He asked, and finally, lightly, like a butterfly's touch, settling a tentative hand on the small round of one of Rin's shoulders.

When Rin fiercely shook his head, now crying so hard Lucifer could feel the liquid touching his stomch, he laid a tender hand on Rin's mussed locks, softly stroking them.

Like that they stayed, until Rin's tears quieted down, and still Lucifer petted the boy's head, soothing, comfortingly, offering a balm Rin had needed since he'd first awoken in this strange world.

Once Lucifer thought Rin could finally breathe without choking on his tears, the blond demon gently gripped Rin's shoulders and pushed the boy back, enough so that he could see into Rin's shiny blue eyes.

But before Lucifer could get a word in edgewise Rin burst. "What happened to me! My ears!" He exclaimed, fingering the now pointed lobe. "And...and I have a tail!" His eyes bulged in shock as the said member flipped, thrashing exictedly, mirroring Rin's emotions. Eagerly he grabbed the extension, cooing as, when he stroked it, Rin could feel it, the individual hairs being stimulated. It felt similar to someone touching his skin, or hair. It was part of him.

"And I can see so much more better, and hear, and smell, and..._taste_. I still taste yesterday's breakfast...egg and rice!" Rin continued, babbling at the height of excitement, not noticing how carefully Lucifer surveyed the changes even as Rin explored them himself.

Rin laughed, bewildered, rounding wide eyes on Lucifer. "What's _happening_?"

Lucifer mercilessly left Rin to his speculations as he continued finding his conclusions, not quite noticing how eager Rin was for answers. But Rin was impatient, and with a quick swipe of his hand he gripped one of Lucifer's long loose sleeves with such unanticipated strength he shocked Lucifer into almost dropping onto his knees.

A quick glare, a muted apology, and much dusting later, Lucifer gave Rin an explanation. He hesitated once more for a moment as he tried to reorganize his thoughts in a way Rin would understand. Lucifer was far too used to dealing with adults, scientists, and other's of a far more educated level. Not to say Rin was stupid, but, well, he was a _child_, and Lucifer was not quite sure on which level of knowledge that fell on.

Clearing his throat, the blond demon tried. "As we said earlier, you are the son of the demon god Satan, so you are demon. Yes?" At a exasperated nod of Rin's head, Lucifer nodded in return, and then began to lead them to the set of sitting furniture off in the corner, settling himself in a sofa, and Rin perching at the very edge of the chaise, as close to Lucifer as possible.

"You've been raised human for most of your life, and...now that you're back in Gehenna you've returned to your demon state. Understand?"

Rin voiced his comprehension, his tail resting on his legs giving off spastic twitches occasionally as Rin's attention waned and waxed, flitting about as his various new enhanced senses fed him a multitude of information.

"And now, little princeling, it is time for bed." Lucifer said affectionately, taken only slightly aback when Rin vehemently opposed the idea.

"But I'm not tired!" Rin pouted, standing now and his tail flashing in tune with the boy's distress. "I don wanna go to the bed!"

But Lucifer was an observant demon - he had to be, to have lived for so long- and he shook his head. "You've bags under your eyes, and you've exercised too much of your powers for someone who's had them for so short a time. You must rest, or you will be too ill to properly train your sword skills tomorrow."

Instantly, Rin lit up. "I get to learn how to fight with a sword?"

Lucifer nodded, standing now and walking towards the door. "Sleep well. You must get your rest." And, respectfully and politely, the blond demon tried to leave Rin's inner chambers, but was arrested by skinny arms wrapping themselves around his midriff again.

"Thanks nii-san! Good night!" And Rin bounded to his bed, shoving out a bundle of charred covers and disappearing through the mist of layered curtains.

Shocked, Lucifer stood in silence for a moment, listening as the young boy rearranged his bedspread to better accommodate his body, heard vague mumbles of sleepy talk, a large yawn, and then the soft breaths of a child asleep.

Silently, the tall demon padded over to the canopy, and only when he was positive Rin was asleep did he draw back the curtains.

Flushed, Rin lay on his many pillows, scattered all around him so that it looked like he was asleep in a mound of soft snow, edged in burnt embers. Once again, Lucifer was struck by his angelic visage, and he let the blinds fall back into place, and he left.

He had to report to father how Rin had fared the re-possession of his demonic soul.

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**A/N: This chapter was awfully short, wasn't it? Did any of you suspect it would be Lucifer who was so almighty and powerful?**

**Not sure if I'm quite satisfied with this chapter. I might come back and edit it a bit, though I doubt it. **

**A lot of y'all were looking forward to Rin's reaction to his powers. I hope I did the scene justice! It's so short because this **is **the middle of the night. **

**Egad, I changed the POV so much... The next chapter is also set in Gehenna! Rin's second day in hell, how will our demon prince fare? **

**I'll keep the poll up for a few chapters, and then it'll be down! Don't forget to head over to my account and vote, and for those who have already, thank you!**

**Misspellings, grammar mistakes, anything weird, ect. ect., please let me know! **

**Lots of love, and until next time! **

**As of 6/30/2014: 1751 words**


	7. Chapter 5

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

**A/N: The poll will only be up until the next chapter is posted, which will most likely be on 8/6/14**

**There is also a blog dedicated to snippets and updates on tumblr titled "**_inky-finger-tips_**" with the subtitle** **"**_12:17_ AM**"**

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_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 5_

_Gehenna_

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When Rin awoke next, he found soft light to be softly permeating his layered curtains, and he thought it odd how easily he accepted the changes. Twitching softly beneath the burnt covers, brushing his fingertips where they lay nearby, was the tip of his tail, it's delicate furs cataloging any and all sensations, traveling up his spine and making him shiver. He turned onto his side and his leg brushed the charred remains of the center of his bed.

Suddenly, tears bubbled up in his eyes, blurring his vision, and he fiercely scrubbed at them, willing them to be gone. He couldn't be crying. He'd cry when everything was over, when he was back home in Shiro's arms and holding Yukio's hand.

He grit his teeth against the overwhelming urge to cry and then yelped, his mouth flying open in shock and his tongue racing to gently probe the injured cheek his newly sharpened canines had pierced. The shock eased any new tears, and the few that remained slipped down his cheek unnoticed.

Rin raised a finger to investigate only to stop short when he spotted the long nails adorning each fingertip. He brought his hands up to eye level and found all of his nails had become long and tapered off sharply, and Rin figured if he stuck one of his new fingers into his mouth he'd come away with even more scratches.

So, hesitantly, Rin probed the injured area of the inside of his cheek with his tongue once more, but blinked when he could no longer locate the soreness. Amazed, Rin thought maybe he'd just imagined the sharp pain.

Sitting up, the covers fell to lay crumpled around his figure, and as he shifted one of his feet came to poke out of the charred sheets, flakes of burnt cloth floating away as his foot disturbed them.

Gingerly Rin reached out for his tail, shocked when it lifted languidly and met his clawed hand halfway. He gripped the silky member, watching as it flipped softly, slowly, like a soft wind was softly swaying the tail. He wasn't really controlling it consciously. Just like how he would twitch a finger, it was automatic, no thought necessary, and so his tail moved.

He sat there uncertain for some time, hands gently gripping his tail just under the tuft of black hair at it's end. Should he wait here for someone to come and get him?

Scowling, Rin tossed aside the covers and stood, heedless of how his tail twitched behind him erratically. But, as Rin's feet sunk into the thick carpet, a pressure made itself known in Rin's bowels, and he groaned. Oh, he _really_ had to go.

_Wasn't there a bathroom somewhere around here_, Rin thought, trying hard to remember past the startling midnight attack he had, that was already fraying around the edges, and to recall the brief tour he'd received of his rooms the day before.

In the other room, he remembered suddenly, a plain brown door looming in his memory. Like a child, he ignored all the grandeur around him and rushed towards the room, passing through the large white doors leading to his bedroom to stumble into the sitting room. But Rin pulled short, almost losing it when he found someone to be reclining in the living room.

Squeezing his legs close together, Rin squeaked out, "Be right back!" at a startled Lucifer and rushed across the room, almost tripping once he entered the bathroom.

There he relieved himself, sighing blissfully. It had been over a day since he last used it. Now feeling much better, Rin whirled around to wash his hands, but felt his heart leap into his throat.

An entire wall of mirrors reflected a demon back at him.

A short boy of ten years with black hair and flaming horns adorning his temples, a slender black tail curling round his body languidly, long ears stretching out to catch and all sound, his own gasp softly echoing within the membrane.

Stepping closer, Rin reached up to trace his mirror's image, lingering around his no longer familiar eyes. Squeezing them shut, Rin tried to recall their previous color, a blue similar the the sky's color at noon, but when he opened them again he found the jagged red bound pupil, surrounded by the blue of Satan's flames. He stared into his irregular pupils, trying to find the end in their depths.

Rin looked for any sign of his earlier tears, even of the sob-fest he made of himself the night prior, but there was no swollen eyelids or blood-red eyes. Tearing his gaze away from his study, Rin realized he wasn't a human anymore. He was a monster, a denizen of the creatures that went _bump_ in the night.

Flashes of late night stories between himself and his twin suddenly reared in his memory, of talk of vampires and zombies and ghosts. But never of demons.

Rin turned away from his reflection and finally washed his hands, rinsing his mouth when he found no toothbrush or paste supplied there for him.

When the young demon emerged from the bathroom he found Lucifer reclining casually in one of the plump chairs, bent elbow on the armrest and his head resting on his fist, light blond hair falling over his shoulders and his golden tail resting across his lap, the tip flicking restlessly. Rin focused on the peculiar tuft of straight hair stretching from the crown of his head. _Like a horn_, Rin thought.

"Good morning," the Morning Star greeted politely. His eyes flitted towards the glass-less windows "Or, probably better, good afternoon. You've missed most of your morning classes, but no matter." Here Lucifer stood, his silken hair falling back into place like water. It caught the afternoon light and reflected it and, as always, captured all of Rin's attention.

"Classes?" Rin asked, confused and dazed. He must've heard wrong.

Lucifer smiled placidly. "Yes, classes. You will study Gehenna geography and history, along with basic biology, math, science-"

"Wait wait wait. Hold on. Are you telling me that even in hell I still have to go to class?" Rin demanded in disbelief, his tail twitching behind him. Have his flames fried his brain?

Lucifer released an _ahh_ kind of sound, placing his hands on his hips and settling comfortably in a stance that left his torso wide open, his tail curling mid-air. Rin frowned at this, and wondered why he noticed at all.

"Of course. You must be educated, and since you've missed ten years of being a demon, you have a lot to catch up on."

Rin gaped at him. "School?! I'm literally in hell and I still have to go to school?" He snorted sarcastically. "Oh, but that makes sense now, huh?"

But before Rin had even finished speaking Lucifer had already walked past him, pushing out the door and leaving Rin to scramble after him. Damn those long legs!

The blond continued on at his pace purposely, navigating the halls of the gargantuan castle effortlessly. Rin tried his best to keep the sub-king's stately head in view as much as possible, that one tuft of hair distracting him once more, before Rin's eyes trailed to notice other much more demonic traits.

Gazing at the curve of Lucifer's long ears, Rin asked, "Why...why do I look so different? What happened?" All Rin remembered from the night before was pain, lots and lots of pain, a warm chair, a muted conversation, and bright blue flames, consuming him over and over. His hands lifted to caress his own ear, fingering the long inhuman stretch they now made.

Lucifer threw a quick glance back as if noticing his new features for the first time. He faced forward again. "We found your demonic soul sealed. Up until last night you had been forced to live as a human, but once we freed your soul your demon blood activated and all those features you think are foreign now have finally returned. Believe it or not, little fallen angel, you were born like this. The exorcists concealed your true self."

Rin did not know what to say at this. Had he been betrayed? Or saved? His own flames, destructive in their wild passion, reared in his memory, along with the countless times he had wished for the blood of his enemies, had delighted in the feel of their pained cries as he delivered the justice he thought was right. How many times had he hurt a person in the name of his brother, how many times had he been called a demon, had contested this name, and had not realized it was true?

"I am a demon," Rin said aloud, and Lucifer replied with nothing, ignorant of the context behind Rin's muted words. The voices of countless angry mothers, sneering kids, and disgusted teachers echoed in his mind, and Rin angrily tried to forget them.

"Your hearing, sight, and touch should be much better than your previous human senses. You should also be much stronger, with a better physique over all. Besides the physical differences, your own aura has manifested."

"My what?" Rin asked, trying to match Lucifer's merciless pace.

"Your demonic aura. Think of it like…" the blond trailed off, his hands rising to gesture uselessly in the air. Rin followed the uncharacteristic movements, trying to discern some tangible idea from them. "Like...a barrier?" The fallen angel finally said.

"Oh!" cried Rin. "Like in the animes!"

"Ani-what?" Lucifer asked, completely ignorant of the term Rin used.

"You know, anime!" At Lucifer's uncomprehending stare, Rin blinked. "You've never seen an anime?"

"Is that a show?" Tried Lucifer.

"No silly!" Rin giggled. "It's not a show, it's just what you call them!"

Completely confused, the Morning Star gave up. "What do you think it means?"

"It's uhhh, it's like," here Rin gestured up and down with both arms, "like an invisible circle that surrounds people, and it doesn't let other people hit them. Is that called an aw-awra too?"

"Aura," Lucifer emphasized, before nodding. "Vaguely similar, I suppose. It is indeed invisible, but other demons and yourself can still sense it. Here, feel this." He stopped, Rin also scrambling to a halt beside the demon king.

Suddenly, like a pulsating wave, Rin was smacked in the face by nothing he could see but he could most certainly feel. Outraged, his own demonic presence reared in response, pushing angrily against the opposing barrier Lucifer was inflicting upon Rin. Terrified, Rin's eyes searched wildly for what was attacking him, but he could see nothing. Like a hot flash the memories of the night before surfaced, and Rin quite intimately knew what an aura was. His heart thudded painfully in an instinctual fear that Rin did not know how to placate.

The other demon smiled. "Ahh, see? You're trying to push back. However I am much more powerful than you are." As if demonstrating this fact, Lucifer pushed forward with his aura, overwhelming Rin's entirely so that it recoiled tightly around him, like a second skin desperately trying to recede into Rin's body. Rin's tail thrashed wildly behind him, hair puffing and standing on end.

Unbidden, a growl ripped from Rin's throat, and startled the youngster into slapping a hand against the offensive skin.

"It is tied entirely into your instinctive nature. When it feels a threat it will lash out. When it is threatened enough, it will recede to protect you. It most certainly can be used as an offensive weapon, appealing to the instinctual side of demon's by demonstrating your much more superior abilities. The aura, like our tails, symbolizes how powerful we are. Your tail," Lucifer's bobbed forward, wagging languidly in between the two. "Is the most sensitive part of your body. Any opponent, no matter how weak, could kill you if they can get a hold of your tail. Granted these opponents are without class if they do so, since it is considered highly taboo to touch another demon's tail without permission, though it is accepted for it to be done between family members and lovers." Lucifer held his hand out expectantly, and hesitantly Rin allowed his stiff tail, fur standing on end from the blond's previous demonic attack, to rest in the outstretched demon's hand.

Gently, Lucifer smoothed the angry member into submission, and unconsciously Rin relaxed. Rin sighed in contentment, and the Morning Star smiled lightly.

"Of course, this exemption doesn't apply entirely towards our family. Do not trust so easily, little brother, because not all of our siblings will be as kind as I am." Abruptly, he dropped Rin's tail and turned away, continuing their walk. Rin walked alongside him, the black stalk drooping to twist itself round Rin's body.

"We're finally here. I will not always escort you, you will have a retainer to do so, and most likely your meals will be served in your rooms, but for now this is the informal dining area." Lucifer pushed open the heavy wooden doors and Rin followed him in, glancing for but a second at the hallway they'd left behind. Then, the doors shut behind him.

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**A/N: The poll will be up until 8/6/14. Please head on over to my profile and check it out!**

**There is also a tumblr blog with the url **_inky-finger-tips . tumblr . com_ **(delete the spaces) dedicated to updates on my writing, some ideas, au's, character musings, snippets of chapters, and where you can shoot me a message. I might also take up requests from prompts on any Ao no Exorcist character! Please check it out :)**

**This chapter was cut off quite abruptly, I know. But I needed to chop it somewhere, cuz if not it might have delved into the lands of 7,000+ words, and that would have been an absolute **_nightmare _**to review. This chapter is pure exposition, as well as the next one, but the one **_after_ **that will be quite action-packed, with a tinge of sadness. **

**Children, unlike adults, adapt very easily (not always the case, mind you. All humans are different afterall~) but they are still in the stage of learning about the world and accepting any piece of information that floats their way as the iron-truth. Rin is a ten year old child, a rather bright and happy kid, and not one to dwell on upsetting ideas or memories. But don't worry, Rin isn't giving up on heading home :)**

**Some shout-outs!, or rather, replies to reviews that I think contain information for the general populace:**

Dragon Fang 2011: Aww your review made me really happy! Thanks, and you actually encouraged me to finish this mostly typed chapter, so kudos to you!

Satan-chan: Since Kurikara is broken Rin's ENTIRE demonic soul has been released, so he stays permanently demon, elongated ears, jagged pupils, and flaming horns and all.

sillywidget: I don't really have an approximate chapter count, only the notion that it's going to be dreadfully long. I can confidently say 30+ chapters, though I've a sneaky suspicion it's going to be much more longer (cuz I have a bad tendency to include fluff and details...)

**Any spelling, grammar, or weird-ness mistakes, lemme know! I'll correct them as much as I can :) Thanks for reading (and I'm terribly sorry about the long wait). I try to keep weekly updates to on or around Tuesday~**

**Until next time!**

**As of 7/30/2014: 2194 words**


	8. Chapter 6

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot and RangShorak.**

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Ad Captandum

_Chapter 6_

_Gehenna_

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The informal dining room was as exactly as it was called, especially if one took into consideration what the formal dining room of a palace might appear like. A large delicately furnished room with a large wooden table, several accompanying chairs, rugs and all other trappings meant to decorate a room, and a few servants standing at attention. There was another door that Rin presumed lead to the kitchens. There were no windows, which startled Rin since practically every other room he'd encountered had held that trait.

But as Rin followed Lucifer towards the table he realized the hallway they had traversed had also been window-less. Shrugging off this bit of information, the youngster settled into the surprisingly comfortable dining chair, next to Lucifer, who sat at the head.

An attentive servant came forward, human in all aspects except for the delicately grey tinged skin they retained. Rin couldn't tell if they were a boy or girl, as they wore slacks and a buttoned shirt. The servant bent at the waist before the two, before standing upright and with a bowed head politely asked, "Good afternoon my lord, young master, what would you like to eat today?"

"Ah, Darsio, whatever the cook has," Lucifer waved a wayward hand.

The servant turned towards Rin expectantly, and he blushed, flustered. "Ah, uh, what-whatever he has I'll get." He bowed his head, embarrassed, and he thought he heard a light chuckle. When he looked up however, he found a straight-faced elder brother and an absent servant.

"Now, aside from your aura," Lucifer began, peering intently at Rin, who startled upon realizing they were continuing that line of conversation. "You also have your horns, though it is interesting that they are not tangible in form."

"Don't all demons have horns? Where are yours?" Rin asked curiously, self-consciously placing a hand where he knew the twin fires to burn, though he did not feel the flames themselves.

"Most demons do tend to have similar traits, yes. But do not assume all demons do. The only trait all demons share is to have a demonic presence. You will learn this in your classes." Rin scowled as Lucifer spoke. "But I do have horns. They are currently hidden. However, mine are much more like our fathers in that they have a corporeal form. Both of ours are also covered in flames. It is curious that you do not have yours physically.

"But," Lucifer continued, and here he leaned in closer to Rin, inciting a shiver of fear to dance down the younger boy's spine. "You are not entirely a demon. From what I can gather there is no human blood in you, but perhaps because most of your soul was sealed for so long some traits are either slow to manifest or just do not exist at all."

Rin was silent as he absorbed this. Did that mean he was strange? Different?

Before Rin could follow that train of thought, Lucifer seized his attention once more. "Astaroth told me something. There was another child who looked much like you. Are you...siblings?"

Rin's gut sank to his feet, and he could feel his features twist angrily. "Stay away from my brother!" He leapt away from the dining table, growling at Lucifer, who stared emptily ahead.

The blond blinked. "Brother…" he said so softly, Rin more read the word from his lips rather than actually heard it. "Brother," he said once again, louder. "Twins?" He asked, turning to Rin.

Cautiously, Rin nodded.

"Ahh, I understand now. Come, sit. I'll tell you." Regardless of whether or not Rin obeyed, Lucifer continued. "Our father had told me you had a human mother, so it had confused me to find you so...much more demon than you should have been. We've encountered half-breeds before, so the fact that your demon blood sang so strong confused us, though we theorized that it might be because it is Satan's blood that runs through your veins. But I realize now what the case truly is." Lucifer looked Rin straight in the eyes, dizzying Rin, who felt his vision slowly expanding into a myriad of colors as he became blinded by the intensity of the light of the Morning Star's eyes. He climbed back into his chair, once again dazed by the elder demon.

"He is entirely human, while you are entirely demon. In the womb, you must have been the stronger twin, and so the demon blood chose you and eviscerated any human traits that might have manifested. Except this went wayward when they sealed your demon soul, and did not allow some traits to develop naturally as they would if you had grown with them."

Rin shook his head. "I've no idea what you just said."

Sighing, Lucifer reclined backwards into his chair. "Our horns grow with us. Your demon blood was sealed, so you were denied the chance to have horns. The same with wings, though I suppose you'll still be able to fly without them."

Excitably, Rin pounced on the idea of flying, and as Lucifer tried to explain the semantics of it all, how it was more _mental_ power than _physical _power, and how it was similar to how they produced their blue flames, their food was delivered, eaten, and taken away.

"I don't understand," Rin said as they exited the dining room and made their way to one of Rin's classrooms.

The blond elder refrained from growling in frustration. It had been a long time since his patience had been tested to thoroughly. The eldest son thought back to the blissful conversations that he could hold with his intelligent professors, doctors, and other members, before gritting his teeth and racking his brain on how to explain the instinctual concept of producing their flames to a child.

"You're making it too complicated," Rin complained, waving his hands. "It's instinct, right, instinct! So it should just come to me, like twitching a finger!"

Lucifer pressed his fingertips against a pain in his temple. "That's not quite instinct."

Rin ignored him. "So...something liiike," Rin lifted his hands and faced his palms inwards, leaving a sizeable space in between them. "BAM!" Fire exploded, so thoroughly and tremendously that it threw Rin back into a nearby wall and had Lucifer's aura reacting to shield the startled blond demon from the blast.

A few paintings rattled, and the carpet lining the hall now had a large charred hole in it, blue flames licking at the threads here and there.

"Ooooh ooooowww that _hurt_ so _much_." The young demon boy cried, sitting up from his crumpled position to rub a hand on his head and back, tail coming to rest in his lap. "Let's _not _do that again."

Lucifer stared at the boy, who stood and dusted ashes from his clothes. Bubbling deep inside him came a feeling so unbearable, he nearly choked on it.

"Hey!" Rin exclaimed, a brilliant blush dancing on his cheeks. "Don't _laugh at me_!"

It was true. Racking with the light sound Lucifer wrapped shaking hands around his aching stomach, chuckling long and deep. "Aha, ahahaha! Hahaha! Re-really my young fallen angel, I've never seen a demon fail so fantastically before! Hahaha!"

Rin was blushing terribly, tail flashing in his agitation. "Stop _laughing_! It's not funny!"

"Oh," the elder replied, finally over his bought. "But it was. What did you think would happen?"

"I don't know," confessed Rin, looking away. "Something, but not _that_."

Smothering a grin with his hand, Lucifer turned away to continue their walk. "_Bam!_ he said." Lucifer kept down another chuckle.

Rin silently followed behind, and they traversed a few hallways before he finally spoke. "Am I going back?"

"To your room?" Lucifer evaded, "Of course, but later. Now, here is where your first class is." They stopped before a large room that opened directly into the hallway. Further back was another wall with large open doors. Through the doors Rin could see the trademark glass-less windows that stretched from floor to ceiling. All around were shelves upon shelves of books, and scattered in between the ridiculous amount of book were tables, upon which several demons stood or sat around, papers, computers, and books resting on them.

When Lucifer stopped before the library, everyone in the room stood, bowing to him. The impressive elder waved them away and walked in, followed closely behind by a nervous Rin, who surveyed the creatures surrounding him, his tail flickering anxiously.

_Is that the prince?_

_He's so young!_

_Look, look, he doesn't have horns! I wonder why?_

_Those damned exorcists! They took our prince for ten years! He's probably been tortured._

_I hope he killed them._

Gasping at that last comment, Rin hurried after Lucifer, covering his burning horns even though the flames seeped through his fingers, and curling his tail around his body nervously.

Rin gasped with relief when they entered a private room. More windows, a large table, a white-board and several book shelves greeted him. And a demon.

He stood tall and slender, looking languid in his movements, his long reptilian tail waving softly behind him. Many blood-red scales decorated his skin where it was revealed, seemingly in a random pattern, though a scattering of them trailed from the ends of his eyelids resulting in a much more sly appearance than he actually had. But not by much.

Fascinated by his tanned skin that held a very slight red tinge, Rin watched as the demon bowed, liquid black hair falling forward.

"Hello, my lord, young master. I am RangShorak. I was assigned to be Lord Rin's teacher and retainer."

Lucifer bowed his head politely, but Rin, eased by his docile manners, surged forward to ask, "Why do you got scales?"

Standing straight, RangShorak looked disbelieving at the little lord, flickering his eyes momentarily at Lucifer, before laughing breathlessly. "Indeed, you _have_ been raised in Assiah all these years."

"Mind your tongue!" Lucifer chided, normal in volume and tone, but breathlessly powerful in the overwhelming fluctuation of his aura that followed his scolding. "He is the youngest son of Satan, and has the bloodright."

"Yes my liege!" RangShorak uttered quickly, bowing low and paling beneath his tanned skin. He turned towards Rin and bowed even lower. "Please, young master, forgive my discretion in words. I meant no ill will."

Bewildered by this turn of events, Rin blinked and waved his hands. "No, no! Please, stand up!" He rubbed the back of his head. "I'm no one to be bowing to like that! Don't do that!"

"My lord," RangShorak began, still bent at the waist. "You are the ninth son of Satan, the prince of our Gehenna, you are indeed someone worth bowing to."

Seeing no way around this, Rin placed flustered hands on RangShorak's shoulders and pushed him up, dropping away when he couldn't quite reach the other demon's full height. "No, Rang! It's fine, all fine! Don't bow!"

Quirking a smile at the new name, Rang conceded with a nod of his head. "Thank you my lord."

"Don't call me that!" Rin growled, uncomfortable. "My name is Rin, Okumura Rin!"

"Master Rin my name is RangShorak, of the Dragonai demon clan, of the family Rufous." Rang bent his head. "It is my pleasure to meet you."

Confused, Rin asked, "What's your last name?"

Easily, Rang slipped into his role. "Demons do not have last names. Since we differ so vastly in types and abilities we identify ourselves first by our clan, or species, than by our family name, or type, than by our personal name. For example, I am of the dragon type of demon, so my clan is Dragonai. Of the Dragonai clan there are many different types. The Viris family, the Xanthous family, the Cesious family, the Rufuos family, and many others. I belong to the Rufous family, and am named RangShorak. Part of your name contains your blood-related augment, also known as ante, which for me is Rang. The last part of your name, known either as _intra_ or _seriate_, is your very personal name to be called by, which for me is Shorak."

Rang continued. "I have a blood related sister. When asked her name, she would respond with 'I am of the Dragonai clan, of the family Rufous, named RangDavine. Having Rang in her name means she is related by immediate blood to me. In our personal home, however, we would simply call her Davine."

Rin said, deadpan in both face and voice, "Are you my teacher?"

Laughing softly at this, Rang answered, "Yes, young lord, I am."

"I can tell," Rin said simply. "Soo...than what's his name?" He pointed at Lucifer, who blinked upon suddenly being thrust into the conversation.

Rang began. "Ah, my lord and you are direct descendants of Satan. You are known by all and have no need to identify yourself. Simply put, if someone were to ask your name and did not recognize your given one, they are a fool. You are Rin. If need be, Prince Rin. Some might also call you fallen angel. But, you are of no clan nor family."

Rin was not happy about this. Granted he was glad he did not have to remember such an arduous and ridiculously long identification, it also left him...saddened. Rin did not like being exalted, being called a _prince_, or an angel, whatever that was about. He did not feel comfortable having adults bow to him, to whisper about him, to call him _young master _or _lord_. Rin was not any of these things. He was a ten year old Japanese boy who got into too many fights, liked to cook, and teased his little brother a bit too much.

Rin's inner calamity went unnoticed by Lucifer, but RangShorak saw the furrowed brows and shiny eyes. _Ah_, he thought_, he's still a child thrust suddenly into a world he does not know_.

"Are you teaching him on all his subjects?" Lucifer asked.

Rang bowed his head. "No, my lord. Only his geography, history, etiquette, and, er, _demonology_. I will also be his personal retainer. BianAyrlo will cover his math and science, and StygiMerlo will teach him fighting."

Lucifer spoke quickly, before Rin could derail them into the topic of fighting. He knew well already the boy enjoyed the idea. "Are they here?"

Rang shook his head. "No, my lord. They were recalled from their personal dwellings. StygiMerlo will be here tomorrow, and BianAyrlo two days after that."

"Very well. You have until dinner. I will come to retrieve him then." With that and a nod, Lucifer turned and left the room, not a word spoken to Rin, who stared after the retreating demon long after the door shut.

"Well then," Rang clapped his hands. "Shall we get started?"

After Rin was seated at a table, Rang stood at the whiteboard, marker in hand. For the next several hours Rang delved into etiquette. A demon's tail, a demon's features, when one should challenge another (Young Master, if any demon were to challenge you it is a thing of folly. You must put him in his place, be it through your aura or brute strength. You are not in a contested position). Exactly what positions meant, how as a direct descendant of Satan he must be held in the highest respect, greeted properly at all times, how to treat those below in rank, and given a brief over-view of exactly how Gehenna is run.

"You see, Gehenna is an entire _world_," Rang stated, drawing a circle on the recently erased white-board. "and while our great lord Satan is certainly powerful enough to control it, as he has for a very very long time, it's not exactly efficient. So thus we have the eight sub-kings."

Several land-masses were drawn on the planet, entirely unlike any continents on Earth, but separated by oceans and seas nonetheless. As he spoke, Rang scribbled out the names of the eight kings in different locations. "Each of your elder brothers run a part of Gehenna. They have a castle, servants, officials, and others under them. They take care of any major crisis that occur under their jurisdiction. You might liken them to different countries, despite all of the world being ruled by Lord Satan."

"At this moment, most of the sub-kings are in their own castles governing their bit of this world. Only a few are absent, one being Lord Samael and Lord Lucifer. Those two are permanently absent from their govern due to reasons, though many of the other kings might take a...vacation, you can say."

Rin stared at this rendition of Earth so unlike his own home world. He searched, but saw nothing resembling Japan.

From there Rin ignored the rest of the lesson, and he suspected Rang let him get away with it. It wasn't entirely boring, per se, because Rang himself was a very interesting fellow who did not hesitate to delve off into tangents that consisted of either speculated gossip or fun facts. But it was that Rin found himself not caring. He wasn't a prince, certainly no king, and while he wasn't a human anymore Rin did not fancy himself a denizen of Gehenna to be learning it's customs and culture. He wasn't staying long enough to need them.

While Gehenna was certainly a dull-colored world, there were changes in it's sky that Rin could appreciate, and the blood-red evening was beautiful in a way that Rin doubted Assiah could ever compare to. It was vivid, one of the few moments in this world that could actually rival the intensity of Lucifer's brilliance or the awe that Satan's flames incited.

Rin gazed out the open windows, white clouds contrasting against the sanguine sky, and envisioned himself back in the monastery, flipping the pages of a cookbook and arguing with one of the priests. His heart ached, then, for home.

"My lord?"

At the inquisitive tone Rin turned, stared at the eyes of Rang that were no less intense than the sky they faced, rubies sparkling against the backdrop of tanned skin.

"Your elder brother will soon be here to retrieve you. I will come to your rooms tomorrow morning to escort you to breakfast. Do you know what a retainer is?" He asked gently, standing across the table from Rin, half his face shadowed in the dying light.

Rin turned away, facing the darkening room. "No. What is it?"

"Mmm, I suppose you could call me a butler of sorts. I will be your most personal follower for your stay here in the castle. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me." Rang smiled.

"Then," Rin said, sliding from his chair to bow as he'd been told to do. "I'll be in your care."

"What?" Rang asked, staring at Rin like he'd spoken another language. "I'm sorry, can you repeat what you said?"

Confused, Rin repeated the motion and the words, watching Rang this time as he spoke. As before, a wave of confusion washed over Rang's features.

"My lord, what language are you speaking?"

"Um, Japanese?" Rin said bluntly, confused. They were talking together just fine a minute ago. What was the issue now? "Are you joking with me?" He demanded, the telltale surges of ire thrashing in his tail.

"Ja...Japanese?" Rang tried, tasting the word on his tongue and rolling it about in the air. "Is that your native tongue?" When Rin's confusion became apparent on the youngster's face, Rang hastily corrected. "Have you been speaking ja-japanese your whole life?"

Nodding, Rin confirmed this. "Aren't you speaking it too?" Rin asked. They were conversing just fine…

"No, my lord," Rang shook his head, staring at Rin intently all the while. "I've been speaking the classic, or universal, demon language. As have everyone else here. You too, until just a few seconds ago."

"Wait, wait," He stumbled a few feet back, feeling queasy. His heart seemed to shudder, and he could feel his tail lashing out, twitching. "Are you telling me I've been speaking an entire other language? No, I only know Japanese!"

Rang's face was twisted in confusion, hands raised placatingly towards Rin. He took a step forward, long dark hair sliding over his shoulders. "My lord, please, I can't understand you."

Horrified, Rin responded with anger. "Stop playing with me! It's not funny, not at all!"

Rang shook his head, decreasing the distance between them ever slowly, tail carefully still, but when Rin growled deep in his throat, he halted, hands still raised. "Can..can you not control it?"

Slowly, Rin calmed down, eyeing the way Rang looked only confused and worried. "You're being serious?" Rin demanded, staring straight at the other demon's ruby-red eyes. _He should be evil_, Rin thought. _All bad guys have red eyes. Or yellow eyes, like Lucifer's_. _Or can control fire, like Satan. _

Rang's red eyes bored into Rin's, honest and sincere. "Yes, my lord. Perhaps you are doing it unconsciously?"

Before Rin could respond in any manner aside from stare at Rang stupidly, he sucked in a sharp breath, the familiar tinge of Lucifer's aura pressing on his own capturing all of his attention.

Rang observed his suddenly pale pallor, calmly noting, "You aren't quite used to your elder brother's aura, are you?" He glanced towards the door. "He seems to be doing it on purpose. Lord Lucifer is normally...more conservative, one could say."

Rin only nodded, grimacing as the magnitude of Lucifer's aura increased and increased, so much that Rin found it aggravating.

Moments later, the door swung open, Lucifer's shining blond head and piercing light eyes swiveling to land first on Rin. He stepped into the room smoothly, and finally looked at Rang.

"Everything well?" The sub-king asked, tall, straight, and filling up the dark room to it's very edges, taking away Rin's breath and stealing his gaze. Somehow, in the few hours the Morning Star had been gone, Rin had forgotten the sheer brilliance of his elder brother. Rin took back his earlier statement. Even the sanguineous sky outside could not compare.

Rang performed a bow, and even as he spoke he continued to incline his head, eyes gazing resolutely at the floor. "Yes, my liege. I told him briefly of the political state of Gehenna, as well as an overview of our class systems."

"Good. Then, Rin, let's go. It's time for dinner."

With a nod at Rang, Lucifer turned to leave. Scampering quickly after the prompt demon, Rin barely was able to throw a quick "bye!" at Rang and receive a kind smile in return before the blood-red demon disappeared behind the shut door.

"Sooo...what did you do while I suffered?" Rin asked, trying his best to match the elder demon's pace.

"Suffered?" Lucifer queried, looking back over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "He did not harm you, did he?"

"What?" Rin returned, bewildered, before laughing happily. "No, idiot. I meant I was bored."

Lucifer turned back around, appeased apparently, but Rin caught the tell-tale signs of agitation in the minute twitches the end of his tail gave off. He smiled hugely.

The walk back was filled with Rin's pestering questions and Lucifer's candid, yet short, responses. As they approached wooden doors from before Rin remarked unkindly, "Man, you're hard to talk to."

"And you talk too much. If I asked you such personal questions, would you reply so nicely?" The Morning Star's voice held a tone of rebuke, enough so that Rin could hear and identify it. The younger slouched back, tail low and and curled around his leg.

"I'd tell like it is," Rin said willfully, and Lucifer chuckled kindly.

They sat in the same positions as that afternoon, and once again Darsio stepped forth from the shadows, eliciting a jump and squeal from Rin.

"Why can't you walk normally?" Rin cried, red tinging his cheeks.

Before Darsio could apologize, however, Lucifer intervened, eyes narrowed in intent. "Rin, you cannot punish others when it is your fault."

Embarrassed and flushed, Rin lowered his gaze to his lap, hands clenched in the hem of his shirt. An apology tumbled from his trembling lips, and, satisfied, Lucifer turned to Darsio once more.

The demon had it's head inclined respectfully, and made no reference to what had just occurred. "Good afternoon my liege and lord. In respect to Lord Rin's fresh arrival the cook has altered his menus." Then, Darsio rattled off a dish Rin did not recognize nor had probably ever eaten, and he was left craving homecooked meals and rowdy dinners.

"That's fine," Lucifer nodded.

"Then I will bring the dishes." Darsio bowed and stepped away, and Rin shuddered as he could feel the brunt of Lucifer's gaze land on him.

"I wanna go home!" Rin blurted, looking up to meet the blond's gaze head on.

Lucifer merely blinked. "You cannot."

Angrily, Rin repeated, "I wanna _go home_."

_Im gonna cry I'm gonna cry I'm gonna cry._

_I just want to go home_

Frustrated, Rin pressed the heels of his hands against his aching eyes, trying futilely to press the tears back. "I don't care if I can't. I just _want to go home. Please, let me go home_." He begged pitifully.

Rin took in a shuddering breath as he felt the hot tears slip down his cheeks, dripping off his chin and down his chest, sliding beneath the fabric of his shirt and tracing the curve of his stomach. He slouched in his seat, drawing up his knees and curling in against them, elbows digging into his stomach.

He was painfully aware that he was sobbing loudly, now, and of the snot dripping from his nose, and that Lucifer was just quietly_ watching _him, not making a damn_ sound_. It made him cry even harder. He wished it was all a dream. Had to believe it was a dream.

"You can't," The elder demon said quietly, and like a furious fire Rin's anger sparked, roaring into existence.

Rin leapt up and away from the chair, the flames' blistering heat singing the nearby tablecloth. His vision was tinged in a vicious, cold, blue hue, and he eagerly fed the hungry flames begging for more.

"Why _can't _I? _Why _not?" Rin cried angrily, desperately.

He suddenly felt like escaping, to be gone from the stifling room and out in the open air. _The hallways don't have windows. My rooms. My rooms do_.

As if anticipating his need to flee, Lucifer stood and, in the same gesture, lifted a hand. Whirling into existence was the silver gilded mirror from before, once again showing glimpses of Assiah. He stepped towards Rin, who burned his flames even brighter and hotter.

Lucifer, however, did not flinch, simply extending the arm holding the mirror towards Rin. Curiously, Rin cautiously reached forward, grasping it's handle. He gasped, however, when the flames surrounding his hand began to scorch Lucifer's sleeves, inciting a red mark to slowly creep onto the elder demon's skin.

Horrified, Rin snatched his hand back, mirror clutched safely between his fingers.

Lucifer made no indication that his singed flesh hurt him, only nodding towards the mirror still showing flashes of Rin's home world. "If you hold that and think of something or someone, it'll show you."

Drawing in a sharp breath, Rin could only focus on the fact that he'd burned Lucifer. He'd _hurt _him. _Cause I'm a demon_, Rin thought, realized. He drew in sharper, faster, panicked breaths, clenching his hands so tight he felt the bite of metal and nails. _I'm a demon and I can't go home_.

Guilt-ridden, angry, upset, and overwhelmed Rin whirled around and ran, shoving against the wooden door with his shoulder so hard he cried out at the pain of it. He tumbled into the hallway, ignoring a maid's shriek as he rushed towards his rooms.

The next thing he knew he was in his bedroom, scorching his new white sheets again, crouching on his knees and forearms, gasping for breath. He couldn't breathe, his heart felt like it was running a death match in his chest. With his eyes squeezed shut, Rin hoped no more tears would fall.

_I can't cry. I'm the bad guy now_.

Opening his eyes, the glass surface of the mirror reflected his face back….except that wasn't his face. The memory surged towards the front of his mind, ripping past

"_Mole-face, mole-face, it's like you got mud on your face!" Rin sang, dancing around and just out of his brother's reach._

_Yukio growled in frustration. "Stop being so immature Nii-san!"_

_Rin stopped, and Yukio rushed into his back, both the boys tumbling to the floor into a tangled heap. Not bothering to detangle themselves, Rin demanded, "What's im-mah-churr?"_

_Yukio huffed, pushing his body up by his arms to stare back down at his brother. He grinned crookedly, glasses slipping of his nose. "It means to act like kid."_

_Rin wrinkled his nose, and gleefully pushed his brother so that Yukio was on his back and Rin loomed over him. He grinned cheekily. "But we __**are**_ _kids!"_

It was Yukio's face, eyes just a shade lighter and greener, trademark moles dotting his face like gentle kisses. He looked tired, sad. He looked like how Rin felt, and Rin ached to be understood, to not have to speak how he felt and just have his brother _know _like he always did.

Then, something seemed to tug at his body, and with a gasp Rin blinked and landed on hard asphalt, scraping his forearms and hands. Hot, humid, air pressed in on him, a brisk wind curling around his slender shoulders.

He looked up and found himself surrounded by cars, parked before a huge building proclaiming in familiar Japanese characters the word "TRUE CROSS CITY HOSPITAL".

Like the way a flower tilts it's face towards the sun, Rin's eyes were drawn to a room viewable from his position, and somehow, even from the distance that spanned between them, Rin could see Yukio through the mere slip of glass, his face furrowed in worry.

He was back home.

* * *

**A/N: A cliff-hanger! Oh no! :) **

**Long time no see folks. Next chapter will be lots of feels and action, so heads up! Schools started, so expect smaller chapters and updates mostly on weekends.**

**I've been informed** (_courtesy of _Oo Asura oO) **that Lucifer's eyes are actually green. However I'll keep Lucifer's eyes "light" colored because, friendly reminder, most demons don't look like they do in Gehenna as they do in Assiah as they're using human vessels, though I speculate that Samael and Lucifer, through sheer power, actually do look like themselves. Nonetheless, in Gehenna Lucifer has long hair and light-eyes and in Assiah he'll have short hair and green eyes :)**

**Thank you all for the lovely reviews and story-alerts/favs! I'm **_so _**glad you like this story! I hope I've met your expectations :)**

**Also, how do you like RangShorak? Personally, I wouldn't want him as a friend ***laugh* **he's a bit too analytical and...observant for me lol**

**Don't forget to check out my tumblr for writing. (**inky-finger-tips . tumblr . com**) Delete the spaces. Expect update notices, snippets, and perhaps designs of future characters. **

**As always, any mistakes, misspellings, or grammar errors, please let me know! I'm still looking for a beta!**

**As of 8/30/2014: 5019 words**


	9. Chapter 7

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

**Warning for foul language. Please keep in mind T Rating.**

* * *

_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 7_

_Assiah_

* * *

Breathlessly, Rin continued to stare, absorbing the intricate features, the familiar designs, of his brother's face. Rin slowly stood, staggering, tail whipping out behind him to help his balance, ears straining desperately to hear the words Rin tried to match on his brother's lips.

He didn't know how he'd gotten here, or why, but he wasn't about to ask. Grinning hugely, Rin stumbled forward, eyes focused only on Yukio, ignoring the way he stubbed his feet on tires and cars, how his shoulders got jammed in side-view mirrors and how his tail thumped unsteadily against car doors.

Blind as he was, Rin rammed into the front of one car, hands splaying out across its hood to prevent his face from kissing it's metal exterior. Coughing, he looked up and was greeted with his reflection, ears elongated and sticking far out from his head, twin flames the only color reflected in the dark night, sharp teeth poking forth from his parted lips, tail twisting in the air behind him, aflame.

As he was now, could he even call himself Yukio's twin?

_I'm still me though_, he thought, staring into his eyes, shining brightly despite the dim lighting, _I haven't changed. Only how I look. Don't we all change as we get older anyways?_

With that logic Rin grinned happily, ignoring the way his canines and incisors turned the smile feral.

He pushed off the car, whirling around to continue his hazardous trek towards the hospital. Soon, he'd be with Yukio. Soon, he'd get to hug Shiro. Soon!

He was nearly through the lot, nearing the brightly lit building, sporadic poles casting beams of light that Rin dashed through.

"_What is that?!"_

The yell stopped him short, and he skid to a stop, the asphalt biting into his bare feet. In the darkness beyond the ring of light he'd tumbled into was a lady, bag carelessly lying on the floor, hands cupped over her mouth and eyes wide in terror.

"What's what?" Rin asked, turning to follow her gaze only to realize it led to him.

At his voice the lady screeched, causing Rin to wince. Nervously, his tail flickered, and he licked his lips, swallowing. Something about her eyes unnerved him, the way the pupil had dilated enough to nearly swallow her iris, it seemed, how the shadows filled in the creases and crevices until she looked nearly...demonic.

"S-someody!" The lady cried, head turning to face the hospital but eyes glued to Rin. "H-help! Somebody! There's.._.there's a monster here!_"

_A monster_.

Detached, morbidly, Rin wondered if, maybe, possibly, Yukio and Shiro would react this way. If maybe they wouldn't be able to see past his fangs and flames to _him_.

"G-go away! _Go_! You're here to curse the patients, aren't you?" Angrily, frightened, the lady snatched up her fallen purse and threw it at him. It slammed into his cheek, knocking Rin's face aside and tearing the inside of his mouth open where it grazed his teeth.

Rin growled instinctively, whipping around to glare at her, his flames twining among his fingers and tail. _How _dare _she. What is her _problem_?!_

Crying, now, the lady stumbled back on her heels, hands hovering over her heart, it's thudding beats resounding in his ears thoroughly.

He could see, in her eyes, his reflection, body hunched over in the light, clawed hand gripping his cheek, eyes burning blue and flames curling around his body.

Then, her hand flashed, and he finally noticed the handgun she had retrieved. Had finally noticed the standard issue uniform all police wore, and the way her hair was tied back so neatly. Her utility belt, with it's full pouches and slips, had one empty.

Swallowing, Rin stared down the barrel pointed at him from a mere few feet away, and fear thrummed in his throat. He didn't want to die. Didn't want to not see Yukio or Shiro again.

He turned and ran, ignoring her shouts and threats, escaping into the dark night. He'd come back later. He'll go see Shiro in the hospital tomorrow. Feeling hopeful for once, Rin eagerly took the path leading home.

_-/-_

To Mephisto, it felt like a slap in the face, and he did jerk, shooting up from his chair and rushing towards the windows of his office, peering into the dark sky. Who was it, _who_ was wandering around his city?

The aura was sudden, large, and overbearing, and while Mephisto was certainly much stronger than whoever this other demon was, it did not negate the fact that a nonetheless strong demon was rushing about his city.

He grinned ferally, shifting his weight and calming down once the shock had worn away. Should he tell the exorcists first and have them deal with the wayward demon, or perhaps investigate himself exactly why the aura felt so...familiar?

"Eins, zwei, drei!"

_-/-_

Rin turned the corner, grinning as his feet stumbled down the familiar walkways, hands eagerly grazing nearby brick and mortar, his enhanced senses overwhelming him with the sensation of _home, home, home!_

However, True Cross City was a megapolis Mephisto had perfected upon, and though Rin recognized store signs and buildings, he couldn't quite connect the big picture in his head to form a map to lead him home. Darkness had fallen already, settling like a fat cat before a hearth over the twinkling city. Despite the late hour it was luminescent enough for Rin to see even without his amplified sight, and so Rin continued, the childhood fear that had once controlled him alleviated by the city lights.

It did not strike Rin to wonder how he'd landed in Assiah, or why nobody was reacting to his inhuman appearance. In the self-centered nature that adorns all children, Rin was only preoccupied with making it home and drinking in the vivid sights that Assiah was made of.

Rin gazed in awe in the brightness and sheer intensity all the colors in Assiah held. Somehow, in his few days stay in Gehenna, Rin had become accustomed to the near monochrome look Gehenna held, and so he felt overwhelmed when he returned to his homeworld.

So, he trailed. He lingered, smiling at families and kids, at the laughter and life surrounding him. At the new games displayed proudly in their storefronts and the greasy burgers he suddenly craved. Rin drank in all that Assiah offered, and he laughed and skipped, traipsing down sidewalks and around corners as it became less of a priority to get home and more of a priority to wonder if Yukio had gotten that one game they'd both been saving up for.

Slowly, though, he headed towards his home. Buildings grew closer together and began to crowd ontop one another, as if reaching for the moon burning in the sky. Slowly, grass began to peek out of sidewalk cracks, and in the distance fuming industrial cement tops began to loom. Slowly, the streetlamps that had glittered regularly at set intervals began to develop more distance in between, so that Rin finally began to utilize his heightened eyesight.

Suddenly, chills traveled down his spine, and Rin whipped his head to the right. There, as dark as before, was the alley that had started it all before. Sucking in a breath, Rin slapped a hand to his throat where he felt the slick sensation of someone's tongue sliding up. He glanced around him, sure the monster had come back to finish off his meal, and Rin dug his nails into his skin as the image of the lizard like creature, illuminated by his blue flames, crouching against the wall, reared in his memory.

Scared, Rin ran, suddenly glad to be so close to home. He turned the corners, panting, hand clutching the cloth over his chest where it felt like an iron manacle had enclosed his racing heart. It felt like too much.

However, this time, Rin did not blindly run past Astaroth. He skidded to a stop, his heart in his throat, eyes locked on Astaroth's curled horns.

"Damn!" The demon spat, eyes glaring, upper lip curled. "Do you know how _hard _it is to find a decent vessel while trying to track you down at the same time? Do you know how _pissed off_ you've made Lord Satan?"

Astaroth's words nearly made Rin cry as he envisioned the king of Gehenna, of the ball of flame Satan had easily let consume Rin.

Astaroth sauntered towards Rin, his illustrious nails swinging in the air as he continued his complaint. "Not only that, I still have to hunt down another place to open Gehenna Gate." As he spoke he displayed the bottle of blood clenched between his fingers, sloshing with his movements. Rin panicked and lit up, blue flames encircling his body, brightening the dark street they stood in.

Astaroth laughed. "What? Do you plan on fighting me?" The horrific demon stopped a few feet away from Rin, leaning towards the much slighter boy and leering down at him. "Don't think that because you're the son of Satan I'll be lenient with you." His grin grew. "Our dad believes in physical punishments, anyways."

Panicking, Rin wheeled on heels and turned back around, heart lurching as he yearned to go to the monastery. He glanced back, and just beyond Astaroth Rin knew was where his home was. Except, it wasn't whole.

Stumbling and falling, Rin ignored the momentary flare of pain as his skin tore on asphalt and focused on the broken towering structure. He found the metal looming gates, and, just beyond them, the broken carcass of what used to be the worship hall. It was too dark and too far away for Rin to see very much, but he could see the jagged edges of torn through walls and debris littering their front lawn in chunks.

"Oh, that," Astaroth said, following Rin's wide-eyed gaze to the monastery. "Yeah, that was one pain in the ass. Had to retrieve that sword and go through all those exorcists, and that _one brat_ pulled the sprinkler system. Have you ever been doused in holy water? Hurts like a bitch. I can't wait to give what's coming to him."

"Yukio?" Rin said, the word escaping his lips, heart thundering. "Don't you touch my brother!" Rin screamed, flames erupting and pouring from him, rolling off him in waves and undulating into the dark night sky. He scampered up to run towards Astaroth, angry and wanting to do _something_ because nobody gets to hurt Yukio.

"Woah little prince," Astaroth laughed, leaping from his spot to crouch on a nearby fence line. He balanced on the balls of his feet, haunches bent and tail swaggering in the air. "Don't get ahead of yourself. I'm actually being nice to you right now."

"Nice?" Rin said incredulously, turning to follow Astaroth. "You're a demon, you don't know what being nice even means!" He wondered if he could shoot a fireball, like in the shows.

"Hey hey! You're a demon too," Astaroth lightly jumped down, scooping Rin up flames and all, scowling. "Useless vessel. Look, it's already falling apart!" Rin was struggling in his grip, biting and snapping and beating the strong arms that held him with clawed fingertips, tears stringing his eyes. He glanced down and saw his flames burning Astaroth, the skin touching Rin's blue fire turning black and brittle, corroding, and Rin screamed in terror at the sight, horrified. _He _was doing this. Scared, Rin tried desperately to get rid of his flames.

"Alright, let's go find a place to open the Gate!" Astaroth said, heedless of the way his skin sagged and fell in chunks, exposing burnt muscle underneath. "Oh, but first."

Rin felt warmth on the back of his neck, and his eyes slid closed of their own volition, Rin's mind going foggy and dark as his muscles fell limp.

He didn't even get to see Yukio or Daddy, he thought softly.

_-/-_

"What are you doing?"

Astaroth, that _was _him, wasn't it?, turned at Mephisto's voice, inclining his head respectfully. They stood on a grassy hill a little distance aways from the city, so that there was hardly any light to see by.

"Samael," the King of Rot said, hands still holding the boy. "I'm opening a Gate to send him back."

"A Gate? For him?" Samael came closer, peering at the shock of black hair, softly lashed eyes shut in slumber. "Are you kidnapping him? I did not know you were into that sort of thing."

"_No_," Astaroth ground out, and Samael could hear his molars grinding. "I'm returning him to father. This," he shifted the boy so that Samael could see his face clearly, and it took a sharp bite to his cheek to prevent Samael from reacting when he recognizing the face. "Is Rin, son of Satan who inherited the blue flames."

Samael forced a smile that nearly broke his face. "Oh? So this is what I felt earlier today. Well, then go on, take him. But watch how many gates you open. I forgave the first one, but two in one week is too much. Watch it."

Astaroth nodded, bid a respectful good-bye, and then finished forming the Gate. Samael watched dispassionately as the gorey mass rose, growling and snarling like it always did, pitiful cries and moans filling the air. He laid the boy down, and gooey black hands gripped him, dragging him down slowly. The curly horned demon stepped in after, waving and falling in slowly. The Gate closed afterwards.

Samael cursed, digging a cherry pink phone out. He quickly dialed Shiro's number. "When _exactly _did Rin regain his demon soul-_all _of it, mind you- and get kidnapped into hell?!" He yelled into the receiver, not bothering to wait for greetings. He wasn't in the mood to play Johann Faust or Mephisto.

"How did you find out?" Shiro said wearily through the line.

"Just now, when I felt an unusual aura meandering throughout my town like they owned the place. Followed it and lo and behold, guess who it was? One of your little twins, in the arms of Astaroth."

"Rin is there?!" Shiro demanded, and Samael felt no pity when he heard the desperation in Shiro's voice.

"He's gone. They just left through the Gate."

"Gone," Shiro echoed, and Samael could hear the Paladin's shaky breathing. "You didn't stop them?"

"How could I?" Samael asked, turning in his spot on the grassy knoll to stare at his city. "Then I would have incurred Satan's insatiable curiosity and blown our plan to hell."

"It's already there!" Shiro yelled, and Samael winced, holding the phone away from his sensitive ears. "They've taken Rin and returned his demon soul! There's nothing we can do!"

Anger having left as quickly as it came, Samael hummed thoughtfully, the noise soon turning into a playful melody. "Who knows, Shiro. Surely Rin will come back. In fact, this makes it all the more interesting! Raised for - what, ten years?- in Assiah and then leaving to live in Gehenna? How utterly fascinating Rin will become when he comes back!" Samael licked his lips, wondering how broken or twisted or demonic Rin would return as.

"I'm not in the mood for your damn games Samael," Shiro growled. "Get my son back."

"Hmm, I'll see _if _I can do something," Samael replied, before snapping his phone shut.

"How interesting," he mused, tapping the closed phone against his chin.

* * *

**A/N: To be honest, I was disheartened by so few reviews. That, and I lost my muse. Sorry for the wait!**

**I just learned recently that Astaroth was the King of Rot, so, in my universe (because I don't know if it's necessarily canon) that makes Astaroth Rin's older brother. Well, then.**

**Sorry for the cliff-hanger dears. Poor Yukio and Rin didn't meet. **

**Tell me what you think! And please point out any mistakes! I've no beta, so I have to review it on my own. **

**As of 5/25/2015: 2574 words**

**Edit 5/26/2015: Thank you to "**Guest**" who helped fix some sentences! Much appreciated dear ^^**


	10. Chapter 8

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

* * *

_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 8_

_Assiah_

* * *

Yukio did not know what time it was, only that it was late in the afternoon and he had not eaten lunch yet. He didn't eat breakfast either, but Kyodo - who had served it - didn't know that, and Yukio wasn't planning on letting him know the food had gone down the mouth of the sewer instead.

He lay in bed, covers clutched in his hands and swathing his body into a cocoon. He realized now why Rin had liked doing it so much. It was almost reminiscent of a warm hug, except it was only your body heat being coalesced by the covers and it was really a lonelier action than it seemed.

He dug his face into the pillow, smothering his nose so that he felt the pressure of not breathing.

Had Rin been lonely? Had he yearned for hugs and warmth so much he fooled himself into receiving it? Yukio thought of all the time he'd seen Rin swaddled like a baby, peacefully asleep, and of all the times Rin had squealed and run away in embarrassment from Shiro's boisterous affections.

Yukio thought of how _he _had people to talk to in school, and how Rin never had, because kids were cruel.

_Demon!_

Yukio grimaced at the familiar memory, turning his face further into his pillow. That horrible horrible name! Rin had never done anything to deserve it, Yukio thought bitterly. He was the sweetest kid there was, but kids were cruel and the world wasn't fair.

A melodious ringing sounded through the monastery then, and Yukio stayed in his cocoon, hoping that after being ignored for several minutes the visitor ringing their doorbell would just leave.

It was in vain, however, as soon the determined bother began to repeatedly press the door bell. The device was old and in ruins, so instead of just stopping short and replaying the melody it started over and over continously, overlaying the sounds and creating a cacophony of sound that had Yukio gritting his teeth and snatching at his glasses.

He thundered downstairs in a foul mood and feeling all the wrath of a demon, lips set in a deep scowl. _Where _are _the rest of the priests?_ Yukio thought acidly after finding the kitchenette empty of bumbling exorcists. Sighing in dismay, Yukio finally decided to open the door.

The boy was in no mood to play nice, polite, or sweet. "Don't you know it's rude to ring someone's doorbell incessantly like that?" He remarked caustically, only to bite his tongue when the door swung fully open and revealed all of Mephisto and his blinding glory.

The demon scoffed, amused, and he swept his tall maude hat off his head, the trailing ribbons arcing as they followed the descent, little bells sewn into the lining twinkling as merrily as the shine in Mephisto's eyes. "My Okumura-kun, what a nasty temper on such a beautiful day. Nay a cloud in sight but I see they've all gathered in your heart. Such a terrible glower, it chills my heart." The cheshire grin that curled the demon's lips showed all his terrible pointy teeth, so Yukio scowled and looked away, heart thudding painfully.

"How can I help you," Yukio asked grudgingly, that ingrained respect rearing its stubborn heard despite the boy's cold iron heart. "If you're looking for my father, he's visiting the hospital for a check-up." He stepped back to allow Mephisto entry, and the demon inclined his head grandly, slanted eyes peering down at Yukio from far above. He walked towards the parlor as if he owned the place, and Yukio simply followed.

"Would you mind terribly if I waited for Shiro here? I've had such a long day, what with pacifying the Vatican over how not one, but _two_, Gehenna Gates opened in less than a week." Mephisto sighed long-sufferingly, gloved fingertips rubbing soft circles into his temples.

Yukio paused on his way to prepare tea, narrowing his gaze at Mephisto. "What do you mean _two _Gates. I know nii-san went through one. Who opened the other?" Then, "Oh, would you like some tea?"

"Coffee, actually. Tea is just too weak for me."

_You didn't have to add on that last part_, thought Yukio caustically, but he went and brewed the coffee regardless. While waiting for the coffee, Yukio snuck upstairs to quickly wash his face and finger-comb his unruly hair, feeling his tell-tale blushing as he realized how messy he had looked.

When he returned with beverages and suitable snacks Yukio perched on the end of a sofa, Mephisto taking the only armchair and grinning as lasciviously as always. "So, who opened the second gate?"

"Oh?" Said the demon, a twirl of his finger conjuring a dainty silver spoon that floated of its own volition to pick up sugar cubes and swirl them into the dark drink. Yukio winced at his lack of forethought to provide silverware. Mephisto _hmmm_-ed, took a quick cautious sip, before slanting a gaze back at Yukio. "Shiro didn't tell you?"

"Didn't tell me what," Yukio quickly asked, scooting forward. His heart suddenly sped up, and he tried to caution himself that Mephisto was a cunning demon who loved above all else to manipulate others. As if hearing Yukio's inner thoughts, Mephisto grinned charmingly, coffee cup held with a pinky crooked out.

"That Okumura Rin was back in Assiah."

Yukio sucked in a harsh breath, choking and feeling the sting of tears. _Rin was back? But…_"Another gate was opened," he managed, wild hope bridling his heart and seizing it. Did Yukio really dare to trust the words of a Demon King?

"Of course Astaroth was quickly sent to retrieve Rin. He is a precious commodity, after all," and the words, so cruelly and carelessly spoken, drove a sharp spike into Yukio's frail broken heart and the young boy thought he would cry over ghosts again that day. "Though I must say, Rin did quite a number to the King of Rot. Burnt flesh was falling off in chunks!" Mephisto laughed.

"You saw him?" Yukio clambered to his feet, eyes wide. "Why didn't you stop him!"

"Why should I, dear Okumura-kun?" Mephisto replied cruelly, cold yellow eyes glinting over the rim of the cup.

Speechless, Yukio didn't know what to say. Why _should _Mephisto rescue Rin? There was nothing for him to gain that Yukio could see. But, still! Out of a sense of respect for his and Shiro's longtime friendship? No, to demons like Mephisto that 'long-time' was nothing but a blink in their eternity. Yet, these reasons did nothing to alleviate Yukio's rising hatred. Here was a man who could have saved Rin, yet he had done _nothing_.

Grinding his teeth, he colored angrily when Mephisto guffawed in laughter. Swallowing his pride, Yukio sat back down and said, "I want to train more."

Mephisto cut his humor short. "What?"

"I want," Yukio gritted out, his jaws aching with the pressure it took not to cry. "To become stronger. Strong enough to protect my brother. Strong enough to march into Gehenna and retrieve my brother myself!"

Mephisto leaned forward, and Yukio felt a stab of fear in his heart when the demon grinned ferally. "Good, yes! Yes! That is a wonderful kind of resolve!" Long gloved fingers gripped Yukio's face by his chin, and the boy tried to keep down the whimper that arose when he could feel the piercing nails the pristine white cloth hid. "That is something I can support. Tell me, how many classes do you take now?"

Yukio jerked his head, freeing himself from Mephisto's tight grasp. He resisted the urge to soothe the sore skin there, instead clenching his hands by his sides. "I take three a week."

"Up it to seven. I will back you up Okumura-kun, but only if you're willing to bleed for it."

"I am. I _will _rescue him." _No matter if Nii-san's human or demon._

* * *

**A/N: What, an update so fast? Hell must be freezing over ;) **

**I'm not quite sure if Yukio already knew of Mephisto's and Shiro's 'grand plan' for Rin, so I opted to leave Yukio ignorant. I certainly wouldn't want to tell a ten year old or younger their twin would likely be possessed by Satan himself, though I suspect Yukio would figure it out early on anyways.**

**A big thank you to **Orangeguise **who spoke some true words in a review. I'll try not to let lack of reviews get to me ^^**

**As of 5/26/2015: 1319 words**


	11. Chapter 9-1

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

* * *

_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 9.1_

_Gehenna_

* * *

Rin groaned aloud, turning in his bed to find sleep again. The pillows and covers were soft and warm and Rin was reluctant to leave the dream-land he'd been in.

"Wake up," someone said sternly. He could feel them standing near his bed. It was bright enough that the backs of his eyes were an eerie red, and Rin grumbled and buried his face in his pillow, grousing out an irritable _no_.

"_Wake up_," Lucifer said and Rin felt fear skitter down his spine to bristle at his tail, twisting his stomach. His eyes shot open, and he was sitting up so fast he could barely see yet. Cringing, Rin brought his hands up to cover his eyes, rubbing them.

"You're so bright, can't you tone it down or something?" Rin grumbled, squinting from between the cracks of his fingers at Lucifer briefly before succumbing and dropping his arms, eyes slanted. "Blind a guy why don't you."

Lucifer blinked. "I didn't intend to," the demon said mildly, frowning. Gradually, his..._shininess _-if Rin dared called it that- dimmed until he seemed more like a regular person than some star. _Oh_.

"Is that why they call you 'Morning Star?'" Rin asked eagerly, shifting in his bed to perch closer towards the hesitant demon. "Because you're so bright?" In the dim room with no windows, Lucifer was still luminescent, nearly glowing.

"That...that is part of it." Lucifer replied uncertainly, lips quirked in a strange awkward way that Rin didn't quite understand.

"You can control that? That's so _cool_. Do it again!" Rin demanded, hands reaching out blindly as if to call out the light again. They gestured upwards and around himself, forming a vague arc as he patted empty air. "Make it bright again!"

Lucifer's strange expression finally settled into a severe frown, and the stern _no_ that followed had Rin's tail dropping in rejection. The skin between the elder demon's brows grew pinched then, and gradually his aura manifested once more as light, shining in Rin's bright blue eyes and illuminating the room like the sun.

"Wow!" Rin cooed in awe, fingers tracing the slight rays of light he could decipher. Lucifer watched the trail the younger boy's hands left with narrowed eyes, uncertain. "This is _so cool_. It's awesome! Totally awesome!" His hands dropped to clasp at the covers bunched around his knees, sleep long forgotten. "Can I glow like that too?" Rin asked eagerly.

Lucifer tilted his head, lips pursed. "You might be able to. We would have to see." Slowly his aura faded until it was invisible. Rin bemoaned its disappearance. "It was only a precaution." He said.

"Precaution?" Rin parroted, questioning.

Taken aback, Lucifer paused. "A...safety measure."

"For what?"

"To see if someone would abduct you."

"Abduct _me_?" Rin asked, flabbergasted. "Why would someone want to kidnap me?"

Lucifer chuckled slightly. "Because you're a prince of Gehenna with Satan's flames. Have you ever wondered why your fire is blue?"

"You said it was because I'm his 'son'," Rin spat, still sour. No way was Satan _his _dad.

"But so am I." Lucifer replied evenly, "however, I do not have the blue flames you and Lord Satan possess. Neither do the other seven demon kings. Only you and him, except Lord Satan is millenniums old, and you are only ten. Ten years old, and weak, and inexperienced, and far too naive. That makes you a very easy target, and a very powerful hostage for them to have. Do you understand?"

"Kind of..." Rin said, scrunching his face in thought. "So that means a whole bunch of people are out to get me?"

"Yes, and someone, somehow, managed to sneak into your rooms and take you to Assiah without anyone sensing them. That is a very powerful person. For that reason I manifested my aura, since we do not know who we're dealing with."

"Wait wait wait, hold on," Rin raised his hand, stopping Lucifer who adorned an indignant look. "No one took me. No one's been in here."

"Then tell me little boy, how did you end up in Assiah?"

The new voice, familiar and foreign and terrifying, rang sharply in Rin's ears, and he whirled in his bed to peer behind him. The milky drapes surrounding his bed hid the person from view, but Rin knew with certainty who it was. Dread gathered in his stomach, seemingly dropping the organ to settle in his feet. His mouth grew dry. No. He didn't want to see him. Didn't ever want to see him.

Before him Lucifer quickly stood, bowing slightly and demurely lowering his gaze to the floor. "Lord Satan." He greeted quietly.

"Answer me," Satan demanded, rounding the bed so that he stood next to Lucifer. Rin sucked in a painful breath when he met Satan's celestial eyes, clutching the bed sheets bunched round his knees. He glared angrily back.

"I don't have to tell you anything!" Rin angrily yelled back, even though his tail trembled with fear and his heart thundered in his chest.

"Don't play games with me boy," Satan warned, his voice sounding warm as honey and coating Rin's trembling fear like tar, slowly consuming him. The greater demon stretched his long fingers out to grasp Rin's chin, his hand enclosing most of his neck in the process. He leaned in closer. "Tell me who trespassed in my domain." The fingers clasped round his neck were not tight or hurting Rin in any way, but they terrified him.

Rin glanced at Lucifer, begging, but the blond demon merely returned his gaze coldly, no hint of remorse or worry prevalent. Swallowing, Rin said, "There was no one h-here," he cried out, hands reaching up clutch at Satan's. "I was alone, and then suddenly I was in Assiah! Let me _go!_" Rin dug his nails into Satan's warm skin, scowling deeply. "I'll burn you!" Rin threatened.

Blinking, Satan released Rin with a deep laugh. "Burn me? Boy, you can't even touch me if I gave you the chance." Dismissing Rin then, he turned to Lucifer. "Do you know how he landed there?"

The blond placed gentle fingers on his chin, gaze turned inward with thought. "The guard at the door said only Rin had been inside when suddenly there was a large burst of energy, and then there was no trace of Rin's presence. If what he said is true," Lucifer finally looked at Rin truly. "We can assume Rin made it there himself."

"How?" Satan questioned, brilliant eyes burning with wonder. "Because he's my son? And like the rest of you, a King?"

Lucifer nodded absentmindedly, eyes roving once more. "Most likely he has another peculiar skill, like Samael."

Rin wanted to say '_hey, I'm right here you know,' _but Satan scoffed when Lucifer mentioned Samael, and Rin was distracted by the disgusted sound, and the aggravated twitch his tail gave off. He wondered if Satan did not like him? It was the first emotion Rin had seen that was not amused anger, condescension, or cocky confidence.

"Tell me," Lucifer peered at Rin intensely, light eyes boring into Rin's wide gaze. He leaned back, suddenly nervous and feeling as if he had done something wrong. "Did you transport yourself to Assiah?"

"What?" Rin asked, dumbfounded. "Transport? I can't do that kind of thing!"

Lucifer _hmm_-ed. "What were you doing last night?"

Rin sat up abruptly. "What time is it now?" He demanded, staring at the room that gave no indication of his answer.

"Late evening," Lucifer replied quickly, Beside him, Satan watched carefully, eyes focused on Rin so intently it unnerved him. "What were you doing last night?"

Shuffling in his place, Rin cast his gaze downwards. "I…,' he remembered, suddenly, that he had burned Lucifer and ran away in tears. He stared at Lucifer's unmarked wrist, the skin bare and unharmed. Guilt swallowed his heart. "I ran here to my room, and was looking at the mirror. Suddenly, I was there. That's all I did, I swear!"

"The mirror… let me see it."

Scampering in his bed, Rin found the mirror hidden beneath a layer of covers Rin had toss aside carelessly when he awoke. He caressed it's gilded surface before carefully holding it out to Lucifer. Satan grabbed it instead, holding the mirror up to eye level and peering into its glass.

"Who were you looking for?" Satan asked, and Rin grimaced nervously, tail twitching.

"My brother," he said after a moment's pause.

"Look for him again!" Satan thrust the mirror at Rin who scrambled to grasp it's handle, one hand holding it and the other cupping the frame. He glanced nervously at Satan and Lucifer, who stared impassively back. Taking a deep breath, Rin watched the mirror's blank depths.

He thought of Yukio. His shy grins and the way his eyes crinkled behind his glasses. The moles that used to be the only feature separating them. Now, they no longer looked alike, with Rin's gleaming sharp teeth and jagged pupils and elongated ears. Rin truly looked like a demon now, and Yukio even more an angel. '_Funny how twins can be as different as night and day_,' he'd heard a teacher say once.

He thought of how Yukio's vision was failing him more and more. How blind his brother was when he woke up, and of all the times Rin had hid his glasses, nestling them in his hair so that he could not distinguish the dark frames from Rin's black hair.

Slowly, the darkness in the mirror dispersed. As if you were peering into a murky pond and swiping at the water, the dirt whirled around and away, settling into gentle ripples that gained color and form. The darkly paneled walls of the monastery reared into view and Yukio's pained face came with them. He was walking down the hall towards their room, his face grimacing. Suddenly he took off running towards their room, slamming the door shut and collapsing against it, sliding to the floor and covering his face with his hands. He curled into himself, shuddering.

Rin felt his own tears coming. No, his brother couldn't be crying. Yukio probably thought he was dead. He didn't know about demons or Gehenna or Assiah or anything. Heart pounding, Rin traced the image with his fingertips.

Suddenly, he could feel his stomach dropping and felt his body getting tugged away,

Landing with a thump, Rin groaned and rubbed his lower back. "That _hurt_."

"Who are you?!"

Blinking to settle his vision, Rin looked up and found Yukio staring at him, wide-eyed and scared, hands braced against the wall behind him. "Demon!" The familiar timbre of his voice rattled in Rin's head, and he thought he'd stopped breathing. His chest burned as he slowly focused on his twin before him, real, alive, _there_.

"What?" Rin asked distractedly, and then with a horrific sinking feeling Rin recalled what he looked like. He slapped hands over his ears, tail curling around him. "Yukio, no, listen it's me!" He scooted forward on bent knees, closer to Yukio he was trying to merge with the wall. "It's me, Rin!" He felt like he was in Wonderland, all upside-down and lost and confused, but strangely exhilarated. This couldn't be real. Couldn't actually be happened, he thought, his heart swelling with hope and happiness and a strange sense of awe as he watched his brother.

Yukio silently stared for a moment, and, for the first time, he met Rin's gaze head on, eyes locked on each other's. Rin could hear Yukio's ragged breathing, and felt slightly delirious when he wanted to laugh.

"Nii-san…?"

* * *

**A/N: Well, cliffhanger! Oh no. Part two's already typed up, just have to go and review it thoroughly. This was actually near 4,000 words, so I chopped it up in roughly half to make it easier to read. Still in the market for a beta ^^**

**I struggled with this chapter for a while because I was indecisive over whether or not to have Rin and Yukio meet. I wrote out two versions: one where they do and one where they don't. However, given the flow of the story, this version was better.**

**Also, someone suggested a time-skip. My dear reviewer, you're reading my mind ^^ There's one already planned. Several, in fact. There's just too much exposition to go through lol**

**I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter! Expect the next one up soon! (Probably this weekend or Mon/Tues coming). Please let me know of any mistakes!**

**As of 6/12/2015: 1937 words**


	12. Chapter 9-2

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

* * *

_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 9.2_

_Assiah_

* * *

The hesitant voice and the familiar name nearly broke Rin's heart with joy, and he forget himself in that moment. Lunging forward he wrapped his arms around Yukio digging his face into his neck. "Took you long enough." Hugging him, Rin felt his tears budding. "I missed you," he cried, his voice shuddering.

"Nii-san. Nii-san!" Yukio cried, hands coming to rest on Rin's back, clutching at the cloth there. "Where w-were you," he stammered, hiccuping in distress. "H-how are you h-here," Rin could feel Yukio's blunt nails in his skin and he stuttered a laugh out.

Suddenly, Yukio pushed Rin back, hands clutching his shoulders. Rin's hands fell to land on Yukio's arms. He stared at Rin's new features, and Rin self-consciously lowered his tail to hide behind his back. "What happened to you?"

Gazing at the slip of floor between them, Rin said, "Yukio, you might not believe me, but…" Rin swallowed nervously. "I'm a demon," he stated harshly, wanting the truth out. He waited pensively, heart thundering.

"I knew that already."

Head shooting up, Rin stared at Yukio's blue eyes. "What?"

"I said I knew that already," then, "I've always known since we were born." He looked away. "I've been able to see demons since we were born." The bitter sound of Yukio's voice tasted acrid on Rin's tongue, and he swallowed thickly.

"Born…" Rin mumbled, eyes wide and mouth dropped open. "You've always known and you never told me!"

"You never asked!" Yukio shouted back defensively, that angry expression Rin knew so well working its way onto Yukio's face. "Besides, everyone always called you a demon. If I said you were, that would have just hurt you."

The reasoning lightened the burden on Rin's heart, and he grinned so hard he couldn't see. "Aw, bro, you could've just told me! I'm made of tougher stuff than you are. For reals," he laughed.

Yukio scowled and whacked Rin lightly on the head. "Shut up nii-san! That's not fair!"

"Life isn't fair anyways," Rin said condescendingly, earning another swipe at his hair. Suddenly, Rin drew Yukio back into his arms, squeezing him. "I really missed you and dad. Where is he anyways?"

Yukio returned the hug, shaking his head. "He's….out on business. He'll be back later."

Rin was quiet for a moment, and Yukio hugged him tighter. "What? What is it? You can stay, right? You're safe now, right?" He begged, and Rin felt the tears again when he could hear the desperation mirrored in his heart in Yukio's trembling words. Yukio already knew the answer to his question, but neither twin wanted to face the truth.

However, Rin was used to being dealt the hard truths lately, so he sighed and shook his head. "No. They're probably sending someone after me right now."

"The same one? Astaroth?"

Rin nodded and could feel Yukio tighten his grip. "I won't let them take you!" Yukio said.

"We're not strong enough," Rin replied, remembering his vivid fear of Satan, Lucifer, and Astaroth. "But we will be one day. I'll come see you," Rin promised. "Wait for me?"

"You're my brother, my twin. We'll always find each other," Yukio shakily said.

"Tell daddy that...I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Look at me! I'm a monster!" At his words, Yukio disentangled their arms to look at Rin's eyes. He shook his head fiercely.

"No you're not! You haven't hurt or killed anyone. You're still human! You have a human heart!"

Rin took a shaky breath and stayed quiet, opting to smile comfortingly. "I'm hungry! I feel like I haven't ate in _forever_. Want pancakes?" He stood, pulling his brother up by his arm and clasping his hand. "Let's eat something."

"Nii-san…" Yukio said, watching Rin warily. Rin tugged on their joined hands and led Yukio downstairs and into their kitchenette, biting back tears all the while at how _familiar_ everything was. He was home, but who knew for how much longer?

"Daddy is going to be mad if he found out you cooked," Yukio warned from beside Rin as the elder twin went about gathering ingredients. "You know he doesn't like you doing it unsupervised."

"What's 'unsupervised?'" Rin asked absentmindedly, cracking eggs and stirring it together with flour. "Yukio can you turn on the heat?"

Hesitant, Yukio asked Rin for more instructions, and the twins lost themselves in familiar friendly banter, settling into old routines not yet forgotten. It wasn't that hard, Rin thought in retrospect, to act normally. To fake it.

Stomachs finally full, they ran back upstairs and jumped onto the lower bunk, Rin whacking his head in the process and Yukio tearing up in laughter. They lay side by side, eyes focused only on the bars supporting the top bunk and mouths moving with idle chatter, hands clasped. There was only so much time left. To remember, to not forget, to imprint on their minds the final memory of each other. Who knew when such an opportunity would be granted once more?

"Nii-san, what are you going to do?"

"Hmm, probably train, take _classes_-can you believe it? I'm in hell and I'm still taking classes. This is such shit."

"Nii-san! Watch your mouth, or I'll scrub it clean with soap."

"I'd like to see you try," Rin taunted eagerly, and the ensuing scuffle left them both breathless.

"You've always been stronger," Yukio whined. "Now you're even more strong."

"Yea," Rin said quietly, acutely aware of their differences.

They were quiet, just breathing, still holding hands. The bed wasn't really accommodating for the both of them, but they stayed squeezed together, knees and elbows jutting into each other and limbs not quite sure where to go. Yukio's grip on Rin's hands grew tighter.

"I don't want you to go," he said mournfully, begging, as if Rin held all the power to stay or leave. Rin could feel Yukio turn and look at him, knew his glasses were probably skewed from the awkward angle and that he was probably crying, because Rin was crying too.

"I'll be okay," Rin said, finally shifting to look at Yukio. "They like me. They won't hurt me. I'll be fine."

"You don't even sound convinced yourself," Yukio huffed out, a soft mixture of a laugh and a sob.

Rin laughed too, and then he sighed, sitting up in their bed. He felt like all the world was resting on his shoulders, his stomach weighed with dread and his heart beat too quickly. He cocked his head to the East, tail twitching minutely with apprehension. "Astaroth is here," Rin said quietly.

Yukio shot up. "In the monastery?" There was wild fear in his voice and Rin wondered what Astaroth had done in front of Yukio.

"No, he's on his way. I can feel him."

"Feel…?" Yukio mumbled, staring at Rin wide-eyed. Rin winced, mouth grimacing as he recalled that some things were best left unsaid.

"I can just sense him," Rin shrugged as his best example. "I'm going to go meet him. I don't want him near you." He stumbled out of the bed, covers catching on his ankles and turning him clumsy. He gripped onto the bed frame and struggled to get out.

Yukio latched onto his arm. "No! I can't let you go!"

Rin yanked it away, at the same time finally freeing himself from the bedsheets. "He's not coming here! Who knows what he'll do to you! Besides, it's not like I can outrun him."

"Wait for daddy! He'll exorcise him!" Yukio sucked in a harsh breath then, and Rin turned slowly to face him.

"Exorcise? He's just a stupid priest Yukio! He can't do anything against a real demon!"

Yukio's face drew dark in anger. "You're the stupid one nii-san! You don't know _anything_. He's an exorcist! He _can _fight demons!"

Rin stilled at this news, mouth slightly open. He moved forward, as if to grab Yukio and demand more answers, but then he shuddered. Looking up and away, Rin could feel Astaroth getting closer, and so he shook his head. "It's too late, I have to go."

"Wait!" Yukio stumbled out of the bed after him, grabbing his hand. He drew Rin into a hug. "Come back soon," he mumbled, and Rin nodded, squeezing him back. They stood quietly in their room, and Rin wondered how long it would be before he'd be able to come back home.

Rin flinched when he felt Astaroth grow even closer, so he gently pushed Yukio away and smiled. "I have to go now." Before Yukio could stop him again, Rin turned to leave, willing his smile to stay for as long as possible. Yukio's hand grabbed his and he let it, leading him downstairs.

When Yukio tried to follow him out of the monastery Rin wouldn't let him, pausing on their porch to push Yukio gently back inside. "No, you can't come out. Whatever you did to Astaroth, he's still really mad about it. He might hurt you."

Rin could see the flash of fear in Yukio's wide eyes before they settled into a deep unhappy frown.

"One day nii-san, I'll get strong. Strong enough so that you don't have to protect me anymore! So you don't have to get hurt anymore."

Rin felt his eyes crinkle with his smile. "Yea! Strong enough to beat demons!"

He squeezed Yukio's hand before letting go, running down the porch steps and out towards the monastery gates. He turned, then, facing his brother. "Bye Yukio. I'll see you again."

"Bye nii-san!" Yukio shouted back, and Rin could see the tears budding in the corners of his eyes. Rin faced the East and started running, eager to get closer to Astaroth and further from Yukio. He didn't know what he would do if the demon found Yukio.

Astaroth was disturbingly close. Just around the corner, in fact. Rin jogged to a stop, still several paces away from Astaroth who had chosen the willowy body of a convenience store worker. The red and yellow striped joviality of the worker's shirt contrasted horribly with Astaroth's dark curling horns and snarling grin.

"Well, aren't you eager to be back!" The demon said, the tone of laughter not lost on Rin who scowled. "Makes finding you much easier, that's for sure. I'm getting tired of hunting you down you little brat."

Rin could feel his heart thumping against his chest in fear and he swallowed. He wanted to run back, to hide in the monastery and stay next to Yukio. To wait for his dad to come home and sweep him into his arms and hold him close. He didn't want to go back to that dull, dull, dull place that was cold and cruel and did not have time for childish needs and wants.

"You must be pretty low-level for them to keep sending you after me," Rin remarked childishly, feeling only a little better when he saw Astaroth's face twist in anger. "Is it that hard to find me, a kid?"

Astaroth strode forward and it took all Rin had to not turn and run away. Yukio was in the monastery just around the corner. He couldn't let Astaroth find his twin. Astaroth, who was still seething in anger at whatever Yukio had done.

"Oh? You're not running away? What a difference," the elder demon said, strolling casually towards Rin, his pale colored tail drifting leisurely behind him. The demon grinned, leaning towards Rin. "Hey, say, won't you cry a little? It always makes me feel better when I can beat you around, you annoying little shit."

Rin stiffened, sniffing and lifting his head to glare at Astaroth. His yellow eyes were wide and gruesomely stretched, the skin around his mouth wrinkling with how sharply he was grinning. The boy could feel the dull pounding start in his lower jaws as he ground his back teeth.

"No? Well, it's all the same to me."

Rin could see Astaroth's hand, slender and long-fingered this time, reaching for the back of his head, and Rin thought that he was getting really tired of being knocked out.

It felt to him that the darkness descended slowly; a grim murky fog that quietly covered his vision, dulling the gleam of Astaroth's fangs and the wild look in his eyes. It gently quieted his racing heart as he was lulled into a sleep, and Rin thought briefly of his father, who he hadn't seen in what felt like forever. He felt, maybe, that the word _daddy_ slipped from his lips, but he wasn't quite sure if he was awake or dreaming yet.

Foggy memories of Shiro and Yukio, of all the priests they lived with, and of all their happy times together gently reared in his mind as he fell back into a deep sleep.

* * *

**A/N: I promise this is the last time Astaroth knocks Rin out for a while. Rin himself is quite tired of the routine. Part Two complete! A few more chapters where they're still 10. Some serious angst coming up soon though. Look forward to it ;) Also, does anyone know when Shura and Yukio first met? When he was 7, or later? I can't recall.**

**And, I missed it (how lame) but this story is a year old now! (How shameful! There's only 12 chapters!) I literally updated this ON it's year anniversary and didn't notice... Alas, what is, is.**

**And a heads up! I'm going for summer classes at my college for roughly 8 weeks, so there may or may not be any updates. Apologies, but I'll try my best to write! (Well, given that writing is a hobby and that I'll probably want to avoid life every now and then, it actually might update even more lol)**

**As of 6/15/2015: 2129 words**


	13. Chapter 10

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

**[Basket in a nutcase] this story isn't quite dead yet lol.**

* * *

_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 10_

_Gehenna_

* * *

Slowly, Rin awoke groggy and disoriented. Except, for the first time, there was no one there. He sat up, feeling heavy and lethargic; his body having been forced to sleep for too much was rebelling against actually waking up. The dewy curtains around his bed and his pristine white sheets had been replaced _again_, and Rin felt bad about burning them so often.

When Rin slipped out from the confines of his princely bed, there was no one there. Specifically, _Lucifer_ wasn't there, and the lack of his presence stirred a childish sense of being unnerved. Lucifer, as apathetic and cold as he was, had always been beside Rin while the young demon had been in Gehenna.

Nervously, Rin shuffled around the room, idly trailing his hands around the ornate fireplace and gold-lettered bindings of books, toes curling in soft rugs and carpets before he ventured into his reception room.

Through the windows in the wall Rin could see a bright, if dull-colored, sky, soft muted clouds blending in with the near gray blue of the sky. How sad, Rin thought. Looking at it was downright depressing. He quickly refreshed himself in the adjoining bathroom, and settled into one of the many couches with trepidation.

What should he _do_? Someone had always been directing Rin's attention, been by him, told him what to do and where to go. Rin hadn't been left alone except for at night, and hardly even _then_. His lack of independence had felt suffocating but comforting, and now that it was gone Rin was left floundering.

A soft knock sounded on his doors and Rin leapt up eagerly, nearly yelling, "Come in!"

RangShorak entered and Rin was torn between relief at not being alone and consternation at him not being Lucifer.

"Good morning my lord," the red-colored demon said, bowing, his silky black hair falling forward over one shoulder. "I've come to escort you to breakfast."

Rin waved his hands, flustered. "Please, don't bow! And call me Rin! I'm no one's 'lord,'" he said, scowling at the distant, polite, term.

Rang smiled, ruby eyes crinkling in delight and scales tilting so that he appeared very pleased, if mischievous. "Thank you. Now, I see you aren't dressed even though you have a full closet."

Rin glanced down at himself, wearing nothing but a sleeping top and bottom, feet bare. "Well," he said gruffly, embarrassed. "No one told me I had one." Rang laughed jovially before walking towards Rin's inner rooms, glancing over his shoulder with a friendly grin.

"Then, I suppose we should get started."

It was half an hour later that Rin and Rang emerged, both slightly flushed in the face. Rin huffed angrily. "I still don't like it." He gestured down to his outfit - a white button down with navy shorts that ended around his knees. He tugged in aggravation at one of his suspenders, feeling the elastic tug on his back in between his shoulder blades where they crossed before going down to cinch on the back of shorts. It reminded him uncomfortably of the clothes Shiro stuffed him into for pictures.

"My lord," Rang groaned, drawing a hand down his face, as if to wipe away his frustration. "You didn't like _any _of your clothes."

"They're all stupid looking! If I'm a prince then why would I be walking around looking like a clown?" Rin asked indignantly, recalling the horrendous shirts and pants he'd seen. He shuddered. "I still like the black one. It was cool!"

"Those were your training clothes, not meant to be worn when walking around the palace!" Rang stated tautly, before sighing. "I'll ask the tailor to fix them to your liking."

"What?" Rin shouted. "_Fix them_? They're fine! They're not torn or anything! Why do they have to fix them?" His mind was boggled just _thinking _of the extravagance. He'd felt nauseous earlier when he had even seen the sheer amount of clothes he had, which far, far, _far_ out rivaled the meager amount he'd had back home.

Rang blinked down at him, brows high and mouth set in a strange press. "Well, you don't like them. What else is there to do?"

Hesitantly, Rin glanced around before staring up at Rang. "Is that okay?"

Rang laughed, and even Rin could tell he was holding back the belly-aching guffaws that wanted to come out. "Is it okay? Of course it is! That's what the tailors are for!" Rang was still chuckling when he bent by a nearby table, pulling a few slivers of paper from an obscure drawer and retrieving his own pen. His dark hair contrasted against the milky petals of the bouquet resting there, and Rin was distracted by the multitude of flowers. He'd never had his own bouquet before. He'd seen plenty of them; he lived in a bloody monastery, _of course _he'd seen his fair share of funerals that came token with the dreaded orchids and typical 'I'm-sorry-they're-dead' bouquets. But, he'd never had one of his own, and Rin's hands seemed to trail of their own convenience to stroke the pretty petals.

Rang straightened abruptly, shocking Rin who guiltily retracted his hand. Rang stared at him for a moment before smiling. "Now, let's go get breakfast, hm?" Rin nodded jerkily.

The walk to the dining room was as long as ever, but Rang chattered all the while, and Rin, who never really needed encouraging, eagerly joined with his own talk. As they settled into their seats, with Rin disturbingly finding himself at the head of the table and Rang to his right, the elder tan demon turned curious bright eyes on him.

"Your elder brother, Lord Lucifer, informed me that you have a specific ability? Would you tell me about it?"

Rin nodded absentmindedly, more focused on the door that would open to reveal his food then on the actual conversation. "I can transport myself to Assiah just by looking into a mirror and thinking of my brother!"

"Brother?" Rang echoed, brows raised, Rin glanced at him nodded before quickly looking at the kitchen door. "You have a brother in Assiah?"

Huffing slightly, Rin settled in his seat and finally looked steadily at Rang. "Yeah, he's my younger twin. His name his Yukio." Thinking of his brother tugged at his heart, and Rin frowned at the unhappy sensation. He had to be strong. He'd promised Yukio.

"Twins. I'm jealous. All I have is a younger sister who talks too much and is too smart for her own good." Rang smiled, as if at a private joke, so Rin smiled too.

"Yea, Yukio's really smart! He's way smarter than me! What is it that he says...all brown and no brains?"

Rang laughed outright. "He probably said 'all brawn and no brains.' It means being strong but stupid."

Rin looked put out. "Ima punch him the next time I see him!"

The red-colored demon hesitated, as if to say something but thinking better of it stopped. Instead, he settled for a soft chuckle. Luckily, the servant came then with the food, and Rin was soon distracted by frowning at the strange 'earth' food they'd brought him. He shrugged before digging in. He wasn't picky, after all.

After their meal Rang led them to the room their previous lesson had been in. At this time of the morning only a few scholars were alert enough to browse the library, and, to Rin's relief, too immersed in their work to notice Rang and Rin walk by. It was mortifying enough being "new," his lack of physical horns and his ever present blue flames were just adding insult to injury. Sourly, Rin wondered if he'd grow accustomed to the looks here, too. It wasn't too different than being stared at back home for being a violent child.

Rang was not one to test the waters, as Rin found out. Immediately after closing their private door behind them, the elder demon began his lecture. "You'll first have geography and history with me, followed by math and science with BianAyrlo, and then your training class with StygiMerlo. You'll break for lunch, and then you'll have your...'prince-ly' classes taught by either Lord Lucifer or I. Then will be your classes on Gehenna culture itself with me. Afterwards you'll have dinner and then you're free for the day, unless Lord Satan or Lord Lucifer requests something of you."

Rin sat, stunned, before rocketing to his feet and slapping his hands on the table. "Are you telling me I'm in classes all day?! That freaking sucks!"

Rang smiled, amused at Rin's suffering no doubt - _demon!_ \- but he quickly cut off anymore complaints, diving into Rin's lessons like they were cramming for an exam the next day. It didn't take long for Rin's….less-than-stellar qualities to pop up.

"Oh my," Rang said after a moment when Rin's eyes had glazed over for the fourth time in half an hour. "You're _really_ not good with school, are you?"

"Shut up you rude jerk! Can't do nothin' about what I can't do."

Rang considered him for a moment, before smiling, all teeth and slanted eyes. Rin shuddered. "Well, that's not an unwise sentiment, but it's one we can't allow. You _have_ to do this, and you _will _learn this. You're not stupid, it just means this method isn't the best one for you." Sighing at how much work was being cut out for him, Rang glanced at his watch and blinked. "Oh! It's time for your lessons with BianAyrlo. Come now." He looked curiously at Rin, who was staring blank-faced at Rang. _You're not stupid, it just means this method isn't the best one for you._

_You're not stupid_. Pleased beyond measure, Rin finally realized what Rang had said. Hopping off the stiff-backed chair, Rin groaned aloud. She was his math and sciences teacher, right? This was _definitely_ not going to go over well.

Rin obediently, if not indignantly, followed Rang out, trying his best to ignore the piercing gazes of the scholars who had gathered in the library since his lessons had begun. His tail flicked nervously, and he scurried after Rang.

A short walk down a hallway led to a smaller study. Rang knocked politely before entering, followed by Rin who nervously peered inside.

It was quite similar to the library but on a much smaller scale and noticeably lacking all the curious scholars. There was only one demon in it.

She was a short woman, only a foot taller than Rin, and was slender all over except for voluptuous hips that jutted out sharply. In fact, everything about this woman screamed 'sharp' to Rin, and he eyed her slanted eyes warily.

Noting the young prince standing cautiously by Rang, Bian turned sharply and bowed, feathered hair drifting in her wake. "Good afternoon your highness. I am BianAyrlo and will be your math and sciences teacher."

"Ah," Rin said nervously, wishing she wouldn't defer to him with such respect. "I'm Rin. Please take care of me."

"My lord, you've slipped again." Rang said, brows drawn together as Rin spoke Japanese once again.

"Ah? Oh! My bad," Rin said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head, tail flickering behind him. "I don't really notice."

"You're being rude RangShorak," BianAyrlo clipped out, steely eyes staring Rang down.

"If my lord doesn't mind then I don't see a problem," Rang replied evenly, sly eyes meeting Bian's gaze.

Like a ruffled bird, Bian stiffened and glared, and Rin couldn't help but think what a stiff she was. At least Rang wasn't _as _formal with him. Personally, Rin preferred the slightly relaxed manner that Rang treated him with.

Feeling the need to say something, Rin stepped forward, swallowing nervously when both Rang's and Bian's eyes fell on him immediately. "I don't really mind, Bian. I don't like when you all are so formal to me. I'm just a kid!"

Bian turned a strange shade of puce, which looked interesting on her pale blue tinted skin. She turned her narrowed eyes on Rang. "As his etiquette teacher, surely this isn't appropriate behavior."

"But for someone who is merely ten years old and thrust into our world as he is, I don't think it is beneath him to seek comfort," Rang said, losing Rin with the complex wording, though he caught the gist that the conversation were more less about how to treat him. His tail twitched in indignation. He was _right here_, dammit!

Bian pursed her lips before sighing and allowed a small smile to stretch them. To Rin's suspicious eye it looked genuine enough, so he grinned back all teeth and eyes squinted, relieved she hadn't forced the issue.

"So long as Lord Lucifer won't kill us for it, then I don't see why not," she finally said, and Rin cringed. They...they talked so _casually_ about killing others! It unnerved him, and he glanced away from them. "Then, my lord, shall we start our lessons?"

Rin sighed longsufferingly, before peering up at her through his lashes and bangs. "I'm warning you now, math and science are my _worst_ subjects. No, all of them are my worst subjects. I just suck at these more."

"I can see," Bian said dryly, before pressing her lips together in displeasure and glancing away at Rang. The tan demon only smiled indulgently at her faux pas and Bian shook her head. "And? Why are you still here?" She asked Rang, eyebrow cocked.

"I've been with him twice before and I have very useful tips in dealing with him. He's distracted very easily and is prone to not listening out of spite," Rang said without an ounce of remorse.

"Hey!" Rin demanded. "I'm right here!" _Again_ they were speaking over him.

"And he has a temper," Rang concluded sarcastically, and Rin's lip lifted in a sneer.

Bian sighed. "Given his blood, I'm not surprised. Well, better make yourself useful then."

Bian proved a merciless taskmaster and soon enough had Rang reorganizing the shelves to her liking ("You're having me do this because you're short, aren't you? Ow, woman! That hurt!") as Rang inserted helpful tips and told her how long it had been since Rin had stopped listening again - to which she replied "Why don't you tell me _when_ he stops listening?".

Rin enjoyed this interactive and light atmosphere much more than he did the stuffy lectures of his old school, and though he drifted off often enough it was much less, and he laughed much more at Bian and Rang's antics, though he could sense that their jabs at each other were more out of rivalry than friendship.

Still, they got along and Rin was pleased. He liked peace and cheer much more than violence, though his records begged to differ. In his defense, all his violent episodes had been in the _name_ of peace.

Bian eased up throughout the lesson, and was engaging enough that Rin didn't even notice when Rang left, only seeing his return with a small wrapped bundle that piqued Rin's interest. He forgot soon after however, laughing when Bian scolded Rang for distracting the prince from his studies.

Nonetheless, the lesson was soon over. Apparently it was more to determine where Rin's schooling was than anything else, and next time would involve actual lessons. Rin secretly hoped that Rang would accompany him as well then, though he doubted it. Demons seemed very independent and coarse by nature, so Rin figured his soft human way of living - depending on each other, always having Yukio's back and Yukio his - would not work here.

When they left Bian was smiling, and Rin adjusted his former assessment of her. Maybe she was a little stiff, but now he could chalk up their first meeting more to nerves than actual stick-up-the-ass-ness. After all, he thought with a vocal grumble and swish of tail that had Rang looking at him curiously, he _was_ the son of Satan, inheritor of the blue flames and prone to temperamental outbursts. No wonder she had been nervous and intent on formality. And if the casual mention of killing was anything to go by, then people died for far less than simply snubbing him, too.

"Where next?" Rin asked aloud, noticing that the corridors they were walking down held more open spaces.

Rang smiled indulgently down at him. "Well, when I left earlier it was to your rooms to retrieve your training gear. Your next lesson is with StygiMerlo, who will train you in the art of defense, offense, and in practicing control of your abilities."

All Rin heard was "fighting."

Whooping with joy, Rin bounced ahead and then back to Rang, grabbing his hand in his enthusiasm, missing the startled look on Rang's face. He pulled incessantly, grinning widely. "Well, come _on _then! I don't know the way so you gotta show me! Hup-ten, at it!"

"What are you even saying?" Rang asked, chuckling, which turned to laughter when Rin admitted he didn't know but sounded like it was hurrying him up.

The voice, when it spoke, was deep and sudden, and startled Rin enough that the boy yelped and stumbled over his own feet, crashing into Rang. "While I appreciate your enthusiasm for learning, perhaps you should change first."

Embarrassed at his overreaction, Rin peered from around Rang, clutching the fabric of Rang's pant leg and cursing himself for his nerves.

The demon was tall, perhaps taller than Lucifer, with dark coloring. Everything about him was dark, except his eyes, which were a strange slate gray. Rin had never seen skin so dark before and it drew his eyes out of curiosity, though he averted them in shame. The demon's hair was like ink, healthy and deep in color. It seemed to absorb and leech the color from everything around it, though it shined brightly as well, and even though it was tied up in a severe high ponytail it hung down to his elbows. He was fascinating and alluring in a different way than Lucifer was - the blond demon arrested your attention through his brilliance. _This_ demon got your attention through a strange allure and mystery.

He looked like the end-all be-all boss, the one you had to level up 20 times for just to even _try_ to beat it, and even then it was mostly luck.

Rin suddenly realized that his staring hadn't lasted just a second but rather long enough for an awkward silence to descend, and he looked up at Rang desperately. _Do something!_ He tried to convey the sentiment to Rang, who looked like he was smothering a laugh.

"My lord, this is StygiMerlo, your fighting instructor," Rang said with a wave, and Rin swallowed down his mortification. He was off to a _great_ start with the teacher who could beat him up and not get in trouble for it.

Merlo bowed gracefully, inky hair dripping over his shoulders. Rin wanted to run his fingers through it. "A pleasure to meet, my lord. I am StygiMerlo of the Umbrajim clan, of the Atramentous family."

"I'm Rin," he replied, resisting against his cultural habit to introduce himself properly. He figured the more he adhered to Japanese customs the more likely he was to slip into Japanese. Fidgeting slightly, Rin asked, "May I call you Merlo?"

Rang grumbled. "You never asked me or BianAyrlo," the tan demon muttered beneath his breath, laughing breathlessly when Rin dug an elbow into his side. Merlo was _much_ more intimidating than Rang or Bian had been.

Merlo inclined his head respectfully. "If you'd like," the demon rumbled, voice deep but light in tone. Rin saw a glint of white teeth - not sharp - between lips parted in a slight smile, and Rin thought maybe he wasn't a _bad_ demon.

However, like always, Rin loved to stick his foot in his mouth. "So, did you just stay in the sun too long or were you born that dark?" Rin asked curiously.

For a moment, Merlo looked like he wanted to be offended, an inky brow cocking sharply. Merlo's face was already sharply angled with high aristocratic cheekbones and brow, though his nose sloped delicately. It was all very contrasting, yet very handsome. Despite Rin's offensive remark, Merlo laughed lightly, revealing more gleaming white teeth. "I was born this way. My clan is a dark one, created and manipulated by shadows. We're also a dangerous one," Merlo said carefully, measuring Rin's reaction to his. Yet he said it like an adult would say to a child 'I'm a monster! Oogie boogie boo!' and Rin naively took it as face-value.

"Wait wait!" Rin grinned, excited. "You can control shadows?" Beside him, Rang shifted nervously from foot to foot, attracting Merlo's gray eyes.

"Yes, I can. I can demonstrate it for you later. However, I do believe it's time to start your lessons."

When Rin yipped cheerfully and left Rang's side to follow after Merlo, the tan demon twitched his nose in disdain. "If only you were so enthusiastic about your other studies."

"What's enth-thusi..astic?" Rin called back, tilting his head to peer over his shoulder at Rang even as he continued to walk by Merlo's side. Merlo watched him curiously and he squirmed under the gray gaze.

Rang answered dutifully. "It means to be excited or eager."

"Well of course I'm en...enthu...enthusiastic about fighting! Its _fighting_! With swords and stuff! Hey, will I get a katana?"

"A katana?" Merlo asked curiously, and Rin's shoulders sagged in defeat.

"Oh. I guess it's a Japanese thing. Never mind then. What'll I be training with?" Rin quickly regained his enthusiasm, eliciting a pleased short laugh from Merlo, who found children Rin's age pleasing overall. They tended not to flinch from him in fear.

"Firstly, you will change. Your current outfit doesn't allow for full mobility." Merlo stopped before a set of double-doors at the end of a hallway lined on the left with the arching borrowed openings. By the double-doors, on the opposite wall of the windows, was another door which Merlo opened.

Inside was a simple room with a round decorative rug, a furniture set situated around a coffee table on one end of the room, an armoire to the right side, and a full length mirror taking up an entire wall on the opposite side. Beside the armoire were closed shelves built into the wall that Rin suspected could be pulled out, and beside them was another nondescript door.

It was an overall small room, comparatively speaking to the rest of his rooms, and Rin turned to Merlo, curious.

"This is your changing room. That other door leads to your showers so you can refresh yourself after changing. The sofa and table are for the times we will spend going over strategy and other non-physical lessons. And," Merlo walked over to one of the panels of the mirror, pressing a hand on the glass on either side of the parting edge where the mirrors met almost seamlessly. "If you push on these it'll lead to the training grounds outside."

Merlo demonstrated as he spoke, the mirror panels twisting forward from the pressure, rotating in place so that the panels stood perpendicular to the rest. A gust of wind rushed in from outside, and Rin nearly ran to go explore the opening.

Merlo allowed him to peer around curiously. Down the wall to his left he could see the double-doors from the hallway, and so he ran down to them, went through them, and popped back into the changing room, cheeks flushed and eyes bright with excitement.

"This is so cool!" Rin claimed, scampering forward to repeat the process. He was suddenly stopped, however, by Merlo's hand clamping on the back of his collar. He looked up piteously at his teacher. "Aww, don't ruin the good fun!"

"Now now," Rang said placatingly from his place by the door. As he said this he made his way to the armoire, pulling it open and grasping one of the hangers inside. Carefully, he untied the bundle containing Rin's training clothes and hung it inside. "Hmm, I'll need to have the tailor make more. Knowing you," Rang said, glancing at Rin, "you'll probably tear this one quickly enough."

"Well, go on then. Change," Merlo forcefully twisted Rin around by tugging on his collar, and Rin grumbled and complied. He stepped forward to grab his clothes but stopped short of them. He glanced at Merlo and Rang purposefully.

When they made no move Rin scowled. He yanked the clothes down - ignoring Rang's remark of dismay - and gestured with them to the normal door. "Well? Can I have _privacy please_?"

Laughing, Rang bowed. "Of course, my lord." Merlo bowed in like and both demons stepped out. Rin sighed in relief.

He hadn't minded being naked in front of Yukio and the rest of the priests - they had communal baths often enough, after all - but it was...weird with them. He didn't really know them. Not yet. And he didn't want them to see something on his body that _wasn't _there when it _should_ be. Rin didn't know what he was missing as a demon, after all. It made him just a bit self-conscious.

He changed quickly enough, noting how, like all his other clothes here, the pants hung low enough on his hips to accommodate for his tail. He slipped the suspenders off with glee. They didn't hurt or anything - it was just the principal of the matter and so Rin treated them with spite.

His new outfit was more form-fitting, with shorts that ended above his knees and a shirt with a wide collar and sleeves that ended above his elbows. It all fit very...snugly, and Rin was slightly embarrassed by the outfit before he realized there was some loose vest-thing that went over his torso. With the vest on it almost looked like the shirt and shorts were a one piece. He stuffed his feet into his socks and shoes and called for Rang and Merlo to enter.

The two demons came quickly - as if they had been standing right outside the door - and inspected Rin in his new outfit. "Good," Rang said aloud, and Rin grinned sunnily. He was relieved when his retainer followed him and Merlo outside. Though Rin barely knew Rang, he still had known him longer than Merlo, and was comforted that he wouldn't be alone with a complete stranger.

Like his previous lessons so far, Merlo assessed him, checking his physique through a simple examination and asking him what he'd learned, which, aside from the many brawls he'd gotten into with his classmates, wasn't much. Merlo clucked his tongue in dismay.

"You'll have to unlearn habits you've already ingrained into yourself from those fights. Tsk." Rin shrunk away, wary of Merlo's displeasure, though the dark-colored demon smiled comfortingly when he saw Rin's reaction. "Don't worry. We'll just start from the basics."

He taught Rin stretches that pulled on his muscles more than the ones in their gym classes had, and told Rin to practice them when he awoke and before he slept to keep his body limber and loose. "Some moves require flexibility," Merlo said.

Rin didn't mind these, though he balked at the idea of homework of any kind. However, when Merlo introduced meditation Rin turned to Rang in dismay. Merlo chuckled when he noticed. "Ah, little one. If you wish to control your power you must have a iron fist on your body _and _mind. Just as your body is, your mind, too, must be trained. Or not you may carelessly hurt someone with your abilities. With your fire."

Rin reeled back. He thought of burning Lucifer's wrist, of the chunks of flesh dripping off Astaroth's borrowed body (_what happened to those who were possessed? Did they go back to normal? Did they die? Had Rin k-)_ and of how easily his strength could overwhelm Yukio now. How fragile his twin's body had felt when he had hugged him.

He hated the idea of hurting others more than the idea of simply sitting for a short while, so Rin nodded. Merlo walked him through different ways of calming himself, centering himself, and focusing his mind, reprimanding the boy when he allowed his thoughts to travel. How Merlo knew Rin grew distracted, he didn't know, but the dark demon _always_ knew exactly when it happened. It would be eerie if it wasn't so cool.

A deep bell rang then, and Merlo stopped their lessons before instructing Rin to go through his stretches. Off to the side Merlo and Rang talked low enough that Rin could barely hear them over the bell's ringing. How had Rin never heard the chimes before? Maybe the castle insulated them?

Done, Rin rushed to Rang and Merlo, intent on hearing their discussion. Instead, Rang redirected him towards the changing room. He could see minute slits in the wall where the mirror panels must be on the other side. "Go shower. Once you're done, we'll have lunch."

His stomach rumbled then, eliciting a laugh from Rang and a chuckle from Merlo. Bowing to both, Rin scampered to clean himself.

When Rin stepped into the room he realized this would be his first shower in Gehenna. But his hair wasn't greasy and aside from the light sweat he'd worked up, he had smelled clean enough. Uneasily, he wondered if someone had been cleaning him. He shuddered in dismay. Hopefully not.

He blinked in surprise.

Sure, it _was_ a shower but...the room seemed too grand for something that shared the same name as the little detachable shower head he'd used in the equally small room back at the monastery.

It was a tiled room that was too large to be having any business any being _only_ a room to bathe in. There were three shower heads in a row on the ceiling, and three again on opposite ends of the wall. There was a fogged glass panel separating the showering section from where he stepped in, and to his right was a large bath tub that Merlo himself could lay down comfortably in. Again, Rin was struck by all the grandeur around him. It settled uneasily on his skin. He didn't belong here. Not really.

But, with his demon ears and eyes and his flickering tail, did he really belong in Assiah either?

The one place he was sure of belonging to was by Yukio and Shiro's side.

Shucking his clothes carelessly, Rin slipped open the glass panel and closed it carefully, wary that he might break it. Along the wall to his left were a myriad of twists and knobs, and with much screaming and hisses he finally found a warm temperature to bathe himself in.

He still twisted all the knobs on, laughing as all the shower heads spurted to life. There was even an option to increase the water pressure, and Rin founded a wonderful mix between the soft pressure from the ones atop and slightly harsher one from the shower heads on the side.

He used the soaps provided and lathered himself well enough, enjoying the multitude of streams.

Rin had been so distracted by the shower he hadn't noticed when someone slipped inside to leave towels and his former clothes on a shelf, his dirtied training clothes gone. He toweled himself dry and put his clothes on from before, blushing slightly at the new underpants tucked in between his shorts and shirt.

When he stepped back into his changing room Merlo and Rang was seated comfortably on the couches. They stood at his entrance, unnerving Rin slightly, and then agitating him when they bowed simultaneously. "Don't do that!" Rin snapped.

They paused, before rising, Rang grinning and Merlo smiling. "Of course my lord," Rang said, and Rin just _knew_ he was teasing him. He huffed in irritation. "We'll be getting lunch now."

Rin quickly forgot his ire in favor of jumping in glee. "Yes! Let's go, what're we waiting for!" He stepped around the table to grab Rang and then Merlo by their wrists, dragging them with him and laughing when they stumbled over each other and the table as Rin darted forward.

Rang followed him easily enough but Merlo stopped short. Rin jerked back when the wrist he had his hand clamped around wouldn't move forward. He looked curiously at Merlo. "What's wrong?" he demanded.

Slowly, a smile crept up Merlo's lips, revealing his white teeth that stood out against his dark skin. "Nothing, my lord." When Rin tugged again, Merlo followed.

Appeased that the two demons were finally getting a move on, Rin dropped his hands and stepped back to give Rang the lead. He still didn't know his way around the castle.

Surprisingly, instead of the dining room Rang led them down a hallway or two and into a room that seemed like a random meeting room with a table and chairs. The borrowed openings allowed the sunlight to light up the room brightly, and there were plants on almost every surface and hanging from several spots in the ceiling.

"What's this?" Rin wondered aloud, fingers reaching to gently caress the leaf of one hanging plant. "It looks like a witch's room."

Rang looked up him curiously for the remark, but answered nonetheless. "Just a casual room. There are many like it throughout the castle."

Rin voiced his amazement aloud, and jumped in surprise when a servant entered the room laden with trays just as they all sat down.

Again, it was human food Rin was unfamiliar with. Still, it tasted good, and Merlo's dry wit and Rang's teasing remarks kept Rin in a happy, light, mood.

When the dishes were cleared away Merlo and Rang stood, Rin scampering to follow. Merlo bowed, which Rin scowled at. "I'll take my leave. It's time for your lessons with RangShorak."

"Okay," Rin said glumly, remembering that after lunch were his 'prince-ly' lessons followed by 'cultural' lessons with Rang. Blinking, he looked up at his two instructors. "Hey, I thought you said Lucifer was gonna teach me how to be a prince!"

"As I will, little brother."

Startled, Rin whipped around to find Lucifer in the doorway, light-colored tail curled around him as he stood, languid and powerful. Behind him, he could sense Rang and Merlo bowing low and humbly saying, "My lord."

Rin ignored them, instead pouting unhappily. "You surprised me! I didn't sense you." Now that he was aware Lucifer was there Rin could feel his aura. It was tightly wrapped and bound, hidden almost. "You're hiding," he accused.

Lucifer's tail twitched. "Not hiding," the demon scolded, and Rin ducked his head. "It is being discrete. To broadcast your location to your enemy is foolhardy."

Rin sighed in relief when he felt Lucifer's heavy gaze leave him, looking up to find his older brother focusing over his left shoulder where Merlo was. "You will be teaching him this?"

Even Rin could tell it was less of a question and more a demand. "As you wish," Merlo demurred, and Rin scowled again, disliking the reticence.

"Good. Come with me, Rin."

But Rin was unhappy with the way he'd treated Rang and Merlo, and so while he followed Lucifer from the room - after bidding a cheerful good-bye to his teachers - he remained stubbornly silent, folding his arms across his chest.

Lucifer noticed.

"You're displeased," the demon said, and Rin could feel his eyes on him. He stared resolutely ahead, but nodded. "Why? Did they do anything to you?" Lucifer's aura flexed threateningly, comfortingly, as if telling Rin he would hunt down and kill any who hurt Rin.

The gesture warmed his heart even as it chilled his bones. He didn't _want_ someone to kill in his name. "I don't like the way you treated Merlo," he finally looked up at Lucifer, feeling dizzy as always as he looked into his brilliant eyes.

Lucifer cocked a slender brow. "And _how_ did I treat him?" Rin could hear the genuine curiosity. He truly didn't see the problem.

But words had never been kind to Rin, and they never came easily. He floundered uselessly for a moment, unsure of how to describe what he had _felt_. "You don't treat them like how you treat me," Rin finally said, unsatisfied with the conclusion. It wasn't quite what he wanted to convey.

"Of course not," Lucifer replied. "You are my younger brother, my fallen angel. They are nowhere close to you." There was an odd wonder in Lucifer's tone, a strange lifting and lilt that made the demon sound more amazed than anything. Rin flushed, and grabbed Lucifer's hand, relieved when the older demon returned the grip.

"That's not it!" Rin said, and growled. "I just...you don't treat them like people." Yes. That sounded right. "You talk down to them." Like how his teachers used to look down on him, with that dark look in their eyes. How they didn't want to touch him. How differently they treated Yukio and him. He hated that look. He hated being treated like that.

"It's not right," Rin said stubbornly and with emotion. "It's not nice to be treated like that."

It was quiet for a moment. Rin could sense they were coming close to the end of their walk and he grew nervous.

Finally, Lucifer spoke. "Did someone treat you like that?" He sounded hurt and when Rin looked up there was a strange expression on Lucifer's face.

But Rin didn't like dwelling on the past, and so he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. You shouldn't treat people like that!"

Abruptly Lucifer stopped, dropping to crouch on the balls of his feet and drawing Rin to face him. When Rin looked into his eyes he found a soft, pained expression. "Ah," Lucifer said, and Rin stopped breathing when the demon used his free hand to cup the side of his face. "My fallen angel, you are much too kind. This world will ruin you."

Rin squirmed, feeling his cheeks burn as they always did when Lucifer called him that. He always said it so warmly, with such affection. It made Rin feel embarrassed.

Lucifer's hand fell away and he stood, patting the boy fondly on his hair and then turning to the door Rin hadn't noticed they'd stopped in front of. "Come, my little brother. It's time for your lessons."

This, Rin could deal with. He groaned aloud. "Do I have to?" He whined.

Rin still grinned when Lucifer smiled down at him.

* * *

**A/N: **Aw, aren't Lucifer and Rin cute?

Coming to college was a lot more...demanding than I thought. I can't believe almost a year has gone by. I'm sorry for the delay. I had a lot of personal issues to work through, not to mention going to college in a completely different state and area of the country. I've never had the pressure of actually making friends before, so that was...tough ha ha.

This was a very long chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it! Sorry for all the OCs, but I couldn't really imagine any of the demon kings being Rin's tutors lol Hopefully you like them? These OCs have been established long before I actually began publishing this story. I wish I could flesh them out more. Anyways, I wrote 4.5k of this 6.5k monster today, so I'm a bit frazzled. I had to reread much of what I wrote to recapture Rin's and Lucifer's character. I hope they don't seem too OOC?

Also, thank you for all the reviews! Though they're oddly eclectic lol I also FINALLY figured out what the holes-not-quite-windows in the wall are called: borrowed openings. Ridiculous.

Rin is an unreliable narrator. There is much that he misses between the character interaction and how they react to _him_ himself. Merlo, for instance, is not used to people easily touching him or being friendly with him because of the stigma his clan name carries. Notice how stiff Rang is with him until Rin makes himself friendly and loud. Also note Lucifer and his "Idk-what-to-do-with-these-brotherly-feels." He wishes Rin had never developed his demon image and misses his human look ha ha even though its his fault that Rin looks like that.

Reviews are very welcome! Please tell me of any grammar/spelling mistakes and I'll do my best to correct. Or you could, you know, just tell me what you think of the chapter? I hope you enjoyed it ^u^

Next chapter: A time skip! Yay?

As of 5/10/2016: 6427 words

**Edit: **5/15 thanks to FancyUsername for pointing out some mistakes! I've fixed them now.


	14. Chapter 11-1

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

* * *

_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 11_

_Gehenna_

* * *

Rin crouched on the balls of his feet, balancing on the railing of the training courtyard. His eyes were closed in concentration of his latest task, hands gripping the stone railing. The afternoon breeze teased his hair, lifting the too-long strands up, and he patted his hair down in agitation.

There. He found one.

Grinning, the now eleven year old blinked and fell off the side of the railing, flipping over and landing on the courtyard far beneath him. Merlo scolded him for doing it, but it the jump always left his blood thrumming in his veins. It was addicting.

He entered a set of doors, a whole two floors down from his jump, and focused again. To his left. He opened the door and immediately sought out Bian, who sat folded up on a sofa with a thick tome open on her lap.

"You were faster this time," his math teacher noted, closing the heavy book with a thud that had Rin wincing. How she could stand reading for so long, he'd never understand.

"You were closer this time," Rin remarked, slightly scolding. He didn't like when they made the tasks too easy.

Bian shrugged, unrepentant, and Rin scowled. Sure, he had told them to let up on the formality (over and over and over again) but he wasn't sure he liked this blatant disregard too much either. Still, it was a far cry better than all the bowing and demurred speeches, and Rin liked it.

Rin watched as Bian primly plucked a feather from the multitude adorning her body. It hovered in the air for a moment before unfolding into a bluebird, landing on her outstretched fingers and chirping cheerfully. As always, Bian's ability left Rin in awe. Rang had told him it'd be rude to ask her, but he was absolutely _dying_ of curiosity about her ability. He was told that, just like he manifested his flames, Bian did her birds.

The bird's head cocked to one side, the other, back again, then chirruped and flew off through the open window, no doubt to inform Lucifer.

"Now then," Bian said, gathering his attention as she opened up her book once more. "You must go on. You still have the others left, no?"

Nodding, Rin bid her goodbye - receiving a respectful bow of the head in return - and stood outside the room, focusing once more.

The next closest aura was Merlo's, and Rin shivered once he'd tracked it. The dark demon's aura was always cold and dark, and when Rin had remarked on it, Merlo had told him that much of his clan was simply that way.

Setting off at an easy loping stride, Rin relied on his senses to tell him when to turn and which hallways to go down. Even after a year he still got lost in the castle, though with Merlo's training it was becoming easier to just vault out an open window, look around, and jump back in when he found a familiar location. Rang scolded him endlessly for it, but it wasn't Rin's fault the castle was so damn confusing.

It was only after a few months of Rin's pestering did Merlo give in and use his power. Apparently it was a species thing for Merlo's clan to be able to use and manipulate shadows. Not only could they blend into them - which, Rin thought but didn't say, wasn't hard in the first place given their near black skin tone - they could also use someone else's shadow against them.

Rin had begged for Merlo to demonstrate, and, smirking, the dark demon said he would but quite then. After some time had passed and their lessons had gone back to meditation, when Rin had tried to sneak off to find a snack he found himself pinned to ground, unable to move. He could only open his eyes wide and glance around wildly, body frozen in place. Merlo released him moments later, and afterwards used his ability shamelessly to control Rin when he tried to scamper off to one place or another. When Rang had found out he'd choked and paled, before whispering to Rin to never let Lord Lucifer know that Merlo had used his ability on him. Confused but sensing that his older brother _would_ probably kill Merlo for the slight, Rin complied.

The afternoon sun lent long shadows into the hallway, only displaced by the flickering flames of Rin's horns and tail. Still, the corridor was familiar, and when Rin opened one of the doors he wasn't surprised to find the green room he had first dined with Merlo and Rang in. He tended to find Merlo there, and more of Merlo's things (books and papers and vials of ink and pens, of all things) had also found their way into the nooks and crannies of the room.

Merlo turned away from the window - with a wince Rin realized he could see the training courtyard and thus Rin's little jumping trick that Merlo had expressly told him against doing - and regarded Rin warmly.

"You've gotten better at cushioning your fall," Merlo simply said, and Rin glowed with pride. It had been tricky to figure out how to extend his aura so that the power influx acted as a barrier between the ground and his feet, but once he had all of Rin's jumps became much easier to handle.

"With all the meditating you make me do, I better have!" Rin said, just a touch irritated. It still took him way too long to actually enter a calm enough mien to Merlo's liking. Rin thought he just simply was not cut out for all the thinking Merlo wanted him to do.

Merlo snorted, rolling his gray eyes. "Honestly, you don't do nearly enough. Now go on, find the next one. Or you'll give Lucifer the idea that this task is harder than it really is."

Rin stuck his tongue out before laughing and leaving the room, missing the soft look on Merlo's features.

Once again, he concentrated, and groaned when he realized the closest target was on the other side of the castle. Wishing he had mastered flying already - he could make his hair float, that was something, right? - Rin walked back into the room Merlo was in and, before his instructor could verbally or physically stop him, ran through and jumped out the window, laughing jubilantly.

"Rin!" Merlo called, and Rin ran off once he landed. There was a slight tug on his shadow that told Rin his mentor was less than pleased, but given that he could still move, Rin figured he hadn't pissed off the demon too much.

Jumping three times in row in front of Merlo was pushing it, so he jogged through the gardens and around a corner before crouching. He looked around to make sure that Merlo couldn't see him, and then jumped, nearly falling short of the window ledge he'd been aiming for. He caught it roughly with a hand, though, and hauled himself through, startling a maid into dropping her stack of clothes.

He grinned, unrepentant. "Oops! My bad!" He stumbled the rest of the way down, tail waving idly behind him, and scooped the fallen laundry up - his laundry, now that he noticed - and folded some of it properly before handing it to her. "Sorry about that, didn't mean to scare ya!"

"Oh no, your highness," the maid demurred, and before she could start bowing and everything Rin took off with a jaunty wave. He'd long since stopped trying to force every demon he met to stop bowing and calling him 'my lord this' and 'my lord that'. His lessons with Rang and Lucifer had firmly ingrained into him that the law of hierarchy, inheritance, blood, and sheer power was very important to demons, especially the underlings. He wouldn't say he was quite used to everyone treating him like...well...like a _prince_, but it was something he'd gotten tired of fighting. And, truth be told, it felt kind of nice for everyone to treat him like he mattered. People looked at him not with disdain but with loyalty and reverence, and it was different for Rin. If he was still in Assiah, he was positive that the only kind of attention he'd be getting was from his principal.

Rang was just down the hallway and Rin eagerly entered the room.

"Done!" He said with a flourish upon entering, waiting for Rang's praise.

The tan demon didn't disappoint. He unfolded from his chair and pushed back from the table covered in documents. Once he'd stepped closer to Rin he ruffled the boy's hair fondly.

"And so you are," Rang said, pleased. "However, Lucifer asked to see you. Go on, find him," his retainer grasped his shoulder and turned him around. "And no more scaring the maids. Honestly, my lord, they're nervous enough as it is."

"No promises," Rin sang, skipping out the door. He already knew where Lucifer was. His elder brother and Satan always held such huge presences that it was impossible _not_ to be aware of where they were, though if they felt like it they could just as easily erase their auras from detection.

Lucifer had suggested the idea. All of his mentors would scatter across the castle and lay in hiding until Rin found them, like some hard-core version of hide and seek (the castle really was too big to be reasonable, and Rin had already gotten lost one too many times - he suspected the game was created to cut down on the time it took to find Rin in the _first_ place). At first, it had been difficult. Focusing was not Rin's forte, and trying to distinguish the aura of his instructors versus all the other demons milling about the castle had been like finding the one golden colored thread in a tapestry of yellow woven fabric.

Initially, Rin had _hated_ the game. It took too long and required Rin to focus more than actually _doing_ anything. But Lucifer and Merlo were ruthless and insisted on the game, even withholding lunch until he'd completed it, much to Rang's protests.

Rin rounded a corner and found Lucifer talking to a lower-ranking demon. The blond demon was regal and graceful as always, tail curled calmly around his legs as he listened intently to the pale demon.

Rin drew nearer, eyeing the unfamiliar demon. It was so pale it looked dead, all white and no color. When its eyes landed on Rin, he realized it was one of the demons under Lucifer's domain. The demon bent into a low bow, which Rin nodded to before stepping closer to his brother.

"You're dismissed," Lucifer said, tone bland. It was as much Rin could hope for. The demon bowed again and left.

"I found you," Rin said, grasping Lucifer's hand to call his attention. His brother slanted light colored eyes down at him, and Rin grinned. He jumped in place, still holding his hand so that Lucifer was jostled with each hop. "I found you, I found you. I did good, didn't I? I was fast, wasn't I?"

"You were faster this time," Lucifer acquiesced, tugged his hand away only to place it on Rin's head, ruffling the black hair there. Rin preened under the praise. "Though I believe StygiMerlo forbade you from doing those jumps, did he not?"

Instantly contrite, Rin stopped bouncing in place and looked down at his feet, tail drooping. "I was tryna be fast," Rin muttered. "You told me to do it quickly!"

"I did indeed, little brother, but I did not tell you to disobey your teacher." Lucifer's voice, while warm, was still scolding, and Rin frowned unhappily. He stared at a scar on his left leg - one from his time in Assiah.

"If I can do it, I don't see why I shouldn't," Rin replied petulantly, and above him Lucifer sighed.

"While you are right that most of our knowledge in instinctual, StygiMerlo knows how to train you best. You mustn't hurt yourself."

Unsaid were the words: _as Satan's vessel you must keep your body in top condition_. But Rin knew. He scowled at his shoes.

"Now, you must go find Lord Satan next. Our father has requested to speak with you."

"What!" Rin said, jerking up to look at Lucifer. "No way! I don't wanna talk to him!"

Lucifer's lips thinned, displeased. "As much as he tolerates your childish headstrong ways, he is not one to be disobeyed. Go find him," he said sternly, and Rin scowled.

He closed his eyes then, picturing his brother. It became easier and easier the more often he did it, to find his brother in Assiah, to focus on him and feel Gehenna slip away. He heard Lucifer start angrily upon realizing what Rin was doing, but the moment passed and the weightless sensation settled in his stomach. He held his breath. It was like floating deep underwater, and Rin always held his breath while he was transferring, though he didn't really understand why himself.

When he landed in Assiah he wobbled on his feet and settled into a crouch, grinning when he didn't fall over. He was getting better at staying on his feet between the worlds too.

Rin looked around curiously, blinking as he adjusted to Assiah's bright colors and myriad of lights. The castle depended mostly on sunlight to brighten its corridors, and so Rin always had to blink rapidly to readjust to the many electric lights there were in this world.

He was on one of many rooftops, somewhere in the city. He realized soon enough that he was by Yukio's middle school, and that given the time they must've just released for the day. Rin always lost track of the days while in Gehenna. His schedule didn't really change depending on the day, so there wasn't difference between any given Tuesday or Saturday to him. Only when he popped back in Assiah every now and then did Rin find out the day.

Ah.

Yukio was walking down one of the streets, heading towards the monastery. Rin crouched low, tail swinging forward to rest across his feet. His hand curled around the curve of his knee, the other propped up against the floor as his keen eyes tracked his brother.

It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last - no matter how much he _should _make it the last visit.

Yukio never knew. Well, in a way, he did, because the canny sixth sense his brother had always seemed to let Yukio know that a demon was near. And as much as Rin suppressed and hid his demonic nature beneath a well-placed barrier, Yukio always found out. His moly-faced twin would come barreling down whatever alley or street Rin scrambled down into, until finally Rin was forced to whisk himself back to Gehenna, always watching his brother.

Mephisto was...lenient about Rin's trips. Some would beg to differ and say that the elder was really being kind, letting Rin come and go as he pleased between the worlds, but Rin intimately knew Samael's cunning nature, and so he turned his nose away and sniffed at any kind of notion that Samael might be kind. He wasn't even merciful. If you ever thought he was being merciful than it was most likely him becoming bored and ditching whatever horrendous project he had been concocting.

Despite the probability that Rin was factoring into one or many of Mephisto's plans, Rin was grateful he could come and go so easily. It would really hurt his trips if he had to fight whatever minion Mephisto sent out each time. While Rin wouldn't really suffer - let alone lose - it would still be a pain in the ass Rin would rather do without.

The transition between worlds was a strange thing. One moment he'd be in the shining world of Assiah, the next in the dullness of Gehenna, where he was never truly allowed to be alone. In Assiah, Rin was _always_ alone, unless Mephisto decided to rear his flamboyant head Rin's way.

But Rin's travels weren't without a cost. Everytime he popped into Assiah long enough, Mephisto would magic a letter into some part of Rin's clothing or even straight into Rin's hand, with a mission to defeat or get rid of some demon or another plaguing Mephisto's carefully orchestrated city.

Rin didn't really have to fight these demons, per se, because the moment they caught sight of his flaming horns and heard him they immediately bowed down, eager to appease the princeling and direct inheritor of Satan's flames. It was only these times that Rin didn't mind the obedience. It certainly made his job easier if he didn't have to actually fight them, and truth be told it was better for them to. If his retainer or Lucifer or, gods forbid, Satan himself found out that they had even threatened Rin, that demon would be sentenced to the highest torture imaginable. Satan didn't take lightly to those threatening his vessel, and Rin liked to think his brother and his teachers simple cared for his safety overall, and not what the promise his body held for the future of Gehenna.

A quick burst of energy near Rin told him that Mephisto had already sensed his presence and deemed him worthy of _another_ mission, and so Rin sighed before tugging the sudden letter from where he felt it crinkling against the nape of his neck, tucked haphazardly into his collar. It always felt like some prank Rin never failed to fall for. He even suspected that Mephisto was trying to get him to anticipate the arrival of the letters themselves and to intercept them, like some weird form of training.

Rin didn't care to play mind games though. He snatched the letter and unfolded the crisp lines.

_Okumura-kun, I see you've decided to visit your dear brother again. Poor Okumura-san thinks he's chasing ghosts every time you pop in. You should really go say hi. Shyness isn't an admirable virtue in men._

"Shut up," Rin growled aloud.

_But, since you're here, you might as well make yourself useful. In the fourth district there's a particular demon that's been giving my exorcists a hard time. Won't you go help?_

_-Samael_

Rin crumpled the letter once he finished, scowling at the thought of his older brother. He didn't really have a choice in the matter as it was, and unless he went back to Gehenna soon Lucifer would send Astaroth after him and he _really_ wasn't looking forward to seeing the bastard again.

No one in Gehenna knew that Rin was in contact with Mephisto, or Samael as his name was down there. The second prince was in some kind of cold war with Satan, and Rin wasn't eager to get in between them, though he suspected he already was.

Honestly, Rin would admire the King of Time if the bastard wasn't so manipulative. Rin was a straightforward kind of person, and he didn't do well with those who liked to use his blunt nature as some kind of tool.

With a sigh, Rin focused on himself, forcing his longer demon ears and his flaming horns to go away. While he couldn't quite manage a human appearance, the shorter ears and normal eyes helped quite a bit in convincing humans that he was the same as them. Without the sight they couldn't perceive his sharp ears and eyes too bright to be human.

Still…

Rin glanced down at his outfit in dismay. He was in his training clothes, and while in the castle the ensemble wasn't embarrassing (there were demons who walked around in simply their skin - Rin didn't look at them for too long) in normal day society his tight fitting jumpsuit and vest were...odd.

Oh well. Nothing he could do about them.

A quick glance down the road told him it was empty and that Yukio had already turned the corner, so he jumped down the some odd four stories, tail whipping out to balance him, wincing only slightly at the impact. When he stood and curled his tail around his stomach to hide it beneath his vest, he felt more than saw Yukio coming back.

Without a backwards look Rin took off towards fourth district. He couldn't face his brother. Not yet.

* * *

**A/N: **Just to speed things up a little. Next chapter will be told from Yukio's POV. While the entire story is planned out, I don't really have it on a chapter by chapter basis, so I'll need to go and sort that out before I can really go forward with the plot.

Both Rin and Yukio are 11, mind you. It's only been a year so far. Also it's a tiny detail, but I forget how Mephisto refers to the twins. I know he calls Yukio 'Okumura-san," but what does he call Rin?

**Edit: **5/15 Again, thanks to FancyUsername for helping me out! And so politely too c:


	15. Chapter 11-2

**Disclaimers Apply. I do no own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

* * *

_Ad Captandum_

_Chaper 11.2_

_Assiah_

* * *

There it was again. Yukio adjusted his grip on backpack, freeing one hand to grab the vial of holy water he had tucked into his jacket.

Sometimes, randomly, Yukio would sense a demon nearby. It set his nerves on end since normal exorcists could only feel a demon if they were strong, and Yukio was almost sure it was the same demon following him.

It appeared without reason to day or time. Yukio would be bent over his schoolwork, diligently taking down notes during his lecture and his head would snap up and gaze outside the window, trying to find the eyes watching him.

Or he'd be asleep when suddenly he'd awake. He'd lay there quietly breathing, groggily trying to figure out what had woken him up when he'd realize it wasn't something but some_one_. Once, he'd gone downstairs after sensing the demon to get a glass of water - it had already long since left before Yukio even thought of getting out of bed - and he'd found his father sitting in the kitchen, elbows resting on the table and hands cradling his face, shoulders stiff and tense. He'd quietly walked back out, hoping Shiro hadn't noticed him.

Ever since Rin had been taken away, Shiro sometimes would lose himself like this, quietly, with nobody watching. The only reason Yukio knew was because he'd made it a personal mission to watch out for Shiro. He knew that just as he had loved Rin - his twin, his brother, his partner in life - so had Shiro. For months after the monastery felt empty. Too quiet, too big, and too much. Rin's boisterous laughter and loud ways had always filled the looming halls and corridors. Out the two, Rin had been the one to constantly drag everyone into one mess or another. Without him, their home felt colder.

For a while people would come up to Yukio and ask him where his brother had gone. Quietly, he'd told them, "Our father sent him to live with our uncle." They had all nodded, murmuring in agreement that, yes, that was the right thing to do with a troublesome child. Send them away.

Yukio hated them all.

They had judged Rin and his kindness unfairly and had treated his brother like scum. They'd called him demon, monster, inhuman, and a dirty mistake. Never mind that Rin only fought for others, or to protect Yukio, or those who couldn't protect themselves. To them, Rin was violent and without reason and deserved to be sent away.

Yukio never wanted to talk to any of them.

Yet, in the empty space that Rin had left behind, Yukio found he needed someone, _anyone_, to fill it. He wanted the laughter and the nose and the teasing friendly remarks. Despite the way they curled his stomach, Yukio still drifted near his classmates. He hated himself for it.

On one of the few nights Shiro found him, gasping and terrified in bed because of his nightmares (_he never told Shiro about the ones he woke from silently, tears streaming from his tightly shut eyes, the images of Rin writhing in blues flames and of sneering eyes and gleaming fangs burned into the back of them, but sometimes Shiro would give him a look, as if he knew the face Yukio wore the morning after because he had the same expression) _Yukio would tell him. How he hated being so two-faced. How earlier that day he'd been laughing and joking, and in the afternoon when he bid his friends good-bye he sneered at their backs.

Shiro had soothed him, running chapped rough hands up and down Yukio's back, curling him into his lap where they sat on Rin's bed (_always, it'd be Rin's bed, never Yukio's)_. He'd told Yukio that it was okay to resent them for the way they'd treated Rin. He said it was understandable that it was harder to get over their hurtful remarks now that Rin was gone, but he also told Yukio that forgiveness was a virtue. That every time he laughed with his friends and every time he didn't look at them with hatred in his eyes was a step towards forgiving them.

It was hard. In the end, Yukio resented himself most of all.

The only bright spot in the long empty days that stretched after Rin was gone were his lessons - daily now. Sometimes it was with Shura, sometimes with Shiro, and sometimes even Mephisto would pop in, grinning with feral fangs and lounging languidly in the overbearing chair he'd manifest with him, pointing out everything Yukio did wrong but never telling him out right how to correct it.

He was an esquire and he was ready to take his exams, but Shiro wouldn't let him. Even Shura had told him, in whispers after one lesson, that Yukio was ready to be an exorcist already.

This knowledge had burned in Yukio. Why was his father holding him back? Did he think Yukio wouldn't be any help, even with all the training he'd done? Yukio had begun his training with the very thought of helping Rin, but now that his brother was gone was it no longer worth it to Shiro?

He wanted to ask Shiro. To confront him and demand answers and explanations. But there was the fear that Shiro would tell him no (_you're useless, what can you do?_), and Yukio was afraid he'd simply accept it.

Yukio doubled back on the path he'd been walking, peering around the corner. The demon was still nearby, but the presence was fading, getting weaker. He was leaving again.

And ...sometimes...

After his lessons had ended and he laid cocooned on Rin's bed.

He wondered if it was Rin.

That Rin was coming into Assiah and watching him, making sure he was okay and alive, before going back to Gehenna.

When he'd break into a sprint, chasing after the mysterious demon, he'd catch a hint of blue, of black hair, and lightly tanned skin. But then the demon would disappear, like curling smoke dissipating into the air, and Yukio would desperately hope, pray, that it was Rin.

He knew he was chasing ghosts. Knew that what he was doing - trailing after some unknown demon in the vague hope that it was Rin - was dangerous and stupid. He'd never told anyone of his suspicions.

It was a hope - a dream - he guarded jealously.

* * *

**A/N: **A rather short chapter, so I thought I'd post together with Rin's. This is only a brief foray into what Yukio's been going through since Rin left. Rin is not only an extremely adaptable child, he also has a huge support group of demons who would lay down their life for him, unlike Yukio who has only the priests and Shiro, all of whom are very busy people. And Yukio never seems to handle emotional issues very well. Honestly. What even is his problem in the manga right now? Get over yourself Yukio. This angst has been going on for way too long now.

But anyways.

I'm sure you can guess why Shiro doesn't want to make his eleven year old son who's already got a death wish an exorcist right now. He's already lost one, he doesn't need the death of another. Poor Shiro. Also in this chapter I play the twin card where the brothers sense each other because why not. This _is _ a **hurt**/comfort genre and we aren't quite to the comfort part yet.

Also, earlier I mentioned my writing tumblr was inky-finger-tips. Welp, that's been changed to something that makes way more sense: hmd-writes. There's some character bios on there with some surprising information plus some idea of what all these demons hanging around Rin look like. I'll post drabbles told from the point of view of OCs or that are not relevant to the plot there, since I don't want to clutter this fic with too many details (and damn does this fic have a lot of details in it. I wrote this before the mangaka revealed the illuminati and broke my brain in half trying to figure out how I could work it with the plot I already had, ugh.)

Anyways. Go check out that tumblr and leave me a message, yea? Or a review here too. This is actually the first fandom I've been in that's left so little reviews even though this fic has a lot of hits.

Next chapter: Idk actually. Still gotta work out the details, so who knows if it's gonna be Rin or Yukio. It'll be a surprise for us all!


	16. Chapter 12

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

* * *

_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 12_

_Assiah_

* * *

The demon snarled, all teeth and darkness and gunk sloughing off its crouching body to land on the asphalt with loud splats. Rin recoiled in disgust. Then, a second later, the stench of the demon hit him and he curled his nose. He stumbled back and slapped a hand over his face, scowling deeply. The sound of his shoes scraping along the floor drew the demon's attention and it turned towards Rin, lips (_does this thing even have a mouth?_) lifting into a snarl.

It turned around on all fours to face Rin, chittering and hissing. Rin frowned, disappointed.

"_This_ is what Samael's exorcists are having trouble with?" The words came out muffled through his hand, but apparently the demon understood it was being insulted. It snarled, and the meaning came through to Rin.

_You! I will eat you! I will eat you, and take your power!_

"Oh ho?" Rin asked, grinning and dropping his hand. He didn't have a weapon - Merlo never allowed him to take their practice swords - but the blood in his veins was enough. "Are you stupid? If you can tell I have power, then maybe you can trace where that power comes from."

The demon recoiled, confused by Rin's confidence. Tentatively, it stretched its aura - small, flimsy, thin - to find where Rin's was.

Normally, to keep Rin's half-demon look, he had to keep his own aura tightly wrapped and close, and he couldn't use his flames either. He didn't have that fine precision or control to use his demonic powers and still keep himself human looking. But, a job was a job, and with a sigh - he _had_ just wrapped his powers up, couldn't he have stayed this way longer? - he let himself go,

His aura spread out, engulfing the demon so that it shrieked in terror. A small fold opened to reveal one eye, and it stared wide and stretched at the blue flames dancing on Rin's temples.

_I'm sorry! Forgive me my lord, forgive me!_

Rin scowled. "No." He said. In that moment, when it had been scared and had spoken out, Rin suddenly saw the crimes it had committed. The murders. The faces of the lives the demon had taken away. "My forgiveness isn't what you should look for. Go back to hell," and with a forceful shove Rin pushed his aura into the demon, squeezing it until it cried out in pain. Its flesh engorged itself, bubbling up and over and around as it was condensed into a small space. Suddenly, with an audible pop, it was gone. Rin sighed, relieved.

He didn't even have a moment of respite when a second later he felt Samael's aura suddenly increase. Smoke suddenly blossomed from where the demon had been, and first Samael's hat emerged, followed by his fingers and an arm. The arm swept down into an arc, trailing the hat, and where the hat passed Samael's body was slowly revealed, and then up and over, until it had completed a circle. The demon placed his hat on his hair and grinned white teeth at Rin. With a snap of his fingers he brought out his gaudy chair and levitated himself and it off the ground. Rin suspected it was because he didn't want to touch the area dirtied by the demon Rin had just exorcised.

"Hello little brother," Samael leered.

Rin folded his arms and spit. "If you were going to come why did you bother sending me at all?"

Samael was still smiling, though his eyes were cold. "Can't I just come to say hello? I have to say, your twin is much more charming. Though only by a hair."

Rin's blood ran cold and he glared at Samael, only vaguely satisfied when the flames adorning his body flared with his anger. "Leave my brother out of this, Samael!"

"Don't be jealous, it's not a pretty look on you," Samael sneered. "Are you upset your twin is making more friends than you are? That he's forgotten his brother and moved on with his life?"

Rin sucked in a breath, feeling as though someone had punched him the gut. Was that true? Had Yukio really forgotten him? Was Rin the only one still mourning his absence? Yet…

He looked back up at Samael and glowered. "If Yukio's making friends, then good! He's no good by himself anyways." And it was true. Rin _was_ happy to hear that Yukio was making friends. Rin had always felt guilty that people sometimes avoided Yukio because of Rin, thinking that his twin was also violent, or even mistaking that Yukio _was_ Rin. Rin was positive his charming brother would have had more friends if it hadn't been for Rin being there.

Samael was quiet, studying Rin's face with an almost blank look, but the moment was gone and his lips turned up in a grin, revealing teeth a tad too sharp to be human. "What a good boy you are. Good, good! This is wonderful!" Samael threw his arms back in jubilant laughter, shocking Rin who backed away from the display. Not for the first time, Rin wondered if Samael wasn't just a bit loose in the head.

With an audible crack in his spine that made Rin wince, Samael snapped forward to lean his elbows on his crossed knees, one hand propped under his chin and the other dangling in front, a shining key hooked on one crooked finger.

"In fact, you're such a good boy, I'll give you a present." He paused for a moment. "A belated birthday gift, if you will."

Rin balked at the kindness. Never mind that nobody had celebrated his birthday - even Rin hadn't realized when the date passed until he'd popped back into Assiah after some time - Samael never gave gifts without a price. Warily, he eyed the golden key. It was grand in design, curling and gilded and shiny. Rin wanted to snatch it from Samael's hand, but experience had told him he'd pay for it.

The look in Samael's eyes told Rin his older brother knew exactly what was going through his head. "Go on, take it little brother. It is an earnest gift. You and your twin have moved my heart with your familial love."

Severely doubting that Samael had anything close to a regular heart, Rin still inched forward. In a flash his hand darted out and thieved the key, curling his fingers around it when Samael laughed, amused. His older brother extended his hand again, gloved and pristine. Smiling, he said, "Come. I'll take you to the door this key unlocks."

Hating to take his hand but knowing that if he didn't Samael would make him miserable, Rin frowned and grasped his fingers, gasping when his stomach fell away. He squeezed his eyes shut, and at Samael's familial chuckle opened them to find himself floating a few centimeters off the porch of a house.

He whipped around to see if he was anyone near third district but - no… the area was too grand and nice-looking for fourth district. The house he was near stood on a sloping hill surrounded by hedges caging a garden in. Similar houses were nearby, and Rin realized it was a residential area higher up the mountain.

"Hey," Rin whispered fiercely, ignoring Samael's amused look. "I may be a demon but I aint a thief! What are we doing here?"

"Okumura-kun, you do realize I gave you a key right? This," he swept a hand out grandly, and Rin followed it to eye the pretty door they stood in front of. "This is your new house."

Rin choked. "H-house! I'm a kid! What am I gonna do with a _house_ of all things!" He sucked in a breath. "Don't...don't tell me its _your_ house…"

"Nonsense," Samael said, and his tail, before neatly tucked into the chair behind him, flickered into the air with disinterest. "My home is no where near this small." Rin looked at him oddly for the remark, wanting to call him out for being a filthy rich bag of money before remembered he lived in a castle himself. "This is _your _house, for when you come to Assiah to stalk your little brother."

"I do not stalk Yukio!" Rin protested.

"Yes, of course, excuse me," Samael said condescendingly and Rin scowled. "Here. Try it," he drifted closer to the door and waved Rin to follow. Reluctantly, he did.

The key slid in smoothly, and Rin twisted it. A soft click, before he turned the knob and let himself in, Samael hopping off his chair to follow.

The house had two levels, and visible from the doorway was, after the foyer, a short hall with two doors, leading into a living room where the staircase could be seen. Rin stepped in and began to look around.

It was painted with bright warm colors that matched the wooden floors, siding, and detailing along the walls and doors. Rin lifted a foot to look at the floor, and said aloud, "If I mess up, my flames are gonna ruin this floor."

"Then gain control over them," Samael said cheerfully behind him. Rin snorted and continued forward.

Past the living room was an open dining room and an open kitchen. The refrigerator was stocked full already -

"Most of this is gonna spoil if I don't come often."

"Then come often."

Rin scoffed, flicking his tail - and trailed his hands over the warm varnish, sliding smoothly and feeling a soft pang in his heart. This. A house, big and wide with a lush lawn and flowers tilted towards the sun. The recliner in the living room, where Shiro could sit and snap at them to not crowd the tv. He turned sharply around to investigate upstairs, slightly relieved when Samael remained in the living room.

It led into an open space with large windows that the neatly trimmed garden could be seen from. On either side - above the kitchen and right side of the house that he had yet to see downstairs - were rooms. Three bedrooms, a study, a bathroom with another attached to the master bedroom, plus what seemed to be a second living room. Inside the master bedroom, colored in yellow, he slid one of the drawers open and found clothes in his size. When he flopped backwards on the bed, it firmly bounced him back before sinking in slightly. His bed in Gehenna was softer, but Rin found he preferred the firmness of the one beneath him.

Back downstairs, he found Samael sitting on an armchair, calmly pouring coffee into an elegant cup from a floating pot. He glanced up at Rin's entrance. "Do you like it?" Rin nodded mutely, chest feeling heavy. "You can come as you like, though as usual I may request you to handle a few underlings, yes?"

He said it with the air of someone who was not expecting an answer, but Rin nodded again anyways. "Then good. Now, the key I gave you can go into any door with a lock, and it will open to lead you to this house. You must understand the nature of it, King of Space as you are."

And Rin did. It didn't make any sense to him, but he could feel the distortion surrounding the key when he used it in a lock.

"Though I don't think it will work from Gehenna...but that's no trouble to you, is it?"

"Ah!" Rin exclaimed loudly, startling Samael into sloshing some coffee over the lid of his cup. "I have to get back soon! Lucifer will be angry if I don't!"

"Then go, little brother." Rin wondered if Samael knew how similar he and Lucifer were, but shook his head and curled his key into his palm, hidden by his fingers. He waved good-bye and imagined his bedroom - with the white curtains and fluffy bed and warm furniture.

It was harder to will himself back to Gehenna. There was less pull somehow, but he managed and gasped when he landed, crouched with his tail flickering to balance him.

Already he felt Lucifer coming to greet him - or yell at him more like - so he hurriedly stuffed his key into drawer by his bed and then forced his aura to wrap around him tightly, diminishing his ears and whisking his flames from existence. Lucifer seemed to prefer him without all the demonic looks and frankly Rin liked himself this way better as well.

He left to enter his living room and soon after Lucifer walked in, not quite scowling but clearly unhappy. Upon seeing Rin though, his features softened. Rin flushed, not quite used to such blatant affection. Shiro had always been callously loving and Yukio was his brother. They never admitted to loving each other as often as Lucifer seemed to look at him softly.

"Rin," Lucifer said, making him flinch and for his tail to swish around nervously behind him, the soft wafts of stirred air teasing his ankles. "I don't understand. You fear Lord Satan's anger, and yet continue to rile his ire." At Rin's blank look he smiled, eyes bright. "You keep making him mad."

"He's mad?" Rin said weakly, looking down.

"Not yet," Lucifer conceded, moving closer to lay a hand on Rin's hair, thumb rubbing over one of his temples, the affectionate action encouraging Rin to look up. "But he will be if you continue to ignore his summons. He wants to see you. He has a surprise for you."

Rin blanched. First a surprise from Samael, and now Satan? At least with Samael he didn't have to worry about suddenly being burned or being tossed out an open window- "Won't you learn how to fly already?" - though thankfully Lucifer had caught him that time. Sighing, Rin reached to grasp Lucifer's shirt.

"You'll come with me, right?"

Lucifer looked down at him, face carefully blank. "Of course I will."

* * *

**A/N: **Time to meet Satan! Are you all excited to see him too? There's a big surprise in store, for both you and Rin! Poor Lucifer isn't going to like it at all. And pitiful Rin, who believes his twin has already moved on.

I want to thank you all for the very kind reviews! Especially FancyUsername, who pointed out some corrections in the past few chapters. Thanks dear! I wish I would reply to some of your questions, but FF's review system is broken right now for some reason (I can see the number of reviews, but not the reviews themselves. Strange huh?)

A somewhat short chapter, but a fast update! I hope you enjoyed it guys, and if you did let me know! I've planned out the next few chapters so with certainty I can say we'll be in Gehenna again next time! And, for the one reviewer wondering about Yukio's meat and potatoes, well, wait another chapter?

Until then ^^


	17. Chapter 13

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist.**

* * *

_Ad Captandam_

_Chapter 13_

_Gehenna_

* * *

**Note: Story is rated T. Violence and some Gore are featured in this chapter.**

* * *

There were the familiar nerves burning in Rin as he approached Satan's throne room.

To his knowledge, it was only he and Lucifer that Satan called on so often. Rin saw the dreaded man once every...month it felt. Days turned into blurs for Rin in Gehenna, and his sojourns into Assiah were spread far enough apart that it was hard to tell time by them. He went when he felt like it, and now that Samael had given him a place there he could stay even longer.

Ah. Did...did Satan somehow know about Samael? A skitter of fear crawled up Rin's spine, tangible in the way his tail flickered nervously. He could feel Lucifer's gaze on him, questioning, but Rin didn't feel like giving answers and he hoped the older demon would attribute his nerves to seeing Satan and not the risk of being found out.

It wasn't that Satan had expressly forbidden Rin from seeing the other demon king. In fact, aside from the odd mention from Lucifer or his instructors during lessons, Rin never heard mention of Samael, Mephisto, Johann or of any his aliases that Rin knew of.

But the memory of that night and of Satan's ire whenever Samael had been mentioned… no, Rin didn't want the old man to know that Rin was on somewhat friendly terms with the Demon King of Time.

Outside the throne room, the porter stiffened upon seeing Lucifer and Rin. He didn't blame him. Satan often felt amused whenever he met Rin; amused and delighted. After all, Rin was the promise and tactical advantage Satan had been desiring for centuries. He was the key to taking over Assiah. After every meeting Satan was liable to entertain himself one way or another, and one of those ways often involved teasing or terrorizing his subjects. Depended on how you look at it.

Still, Rin had heard whispers that ever since he'd come Satan had been much more cheery and manageable. Less random deaths and slaughters since he was in a perpetually amused mood. Rin wasn't sure how to take that. He didn't _want_ to make someone he disliked happy.

The porter tapped the floor twice with the bottom of his staff, and the heavy doors swung open. As Lucifer and Rin walked in the porter announced their names, and Satan looked up briefly from a scroll he was perusing. Before him posturing on the ground was a higher-class demon, one of the ones who were intelligent enough to speak. The...dirt(?) demon twitched at their entrance, sending sediment skittering from his body onto the tiles, but did not lift his head to look up, to busy forcing his forehead into the ground.

Rin followed behind Lucifer, taking his lead. Even with all his lessons and Rang's repeated threats to beat the information into his head, Rin never really understood all the politics of how you're supposed to present yourself to royalty. Rin figured that since he hadn't died yet, he hadn't done anything too wrong to offend Satan.

Satan let go of the scroll and it stayed floating in mid-air, and with a minute flick of the end of his tail the paper burst into blue flames. The demon on the floor cried out in dismay.

"Leave," Satan said, eyes already locking onto Rin's. Rin never had gotten used to Satan's good looks, but that didn't mean he didn't glare for all his life was worth. The demon lord smiled crookedly, before beckoning Rin closer with a crooked finger. Uneasily, Rin complied, a hand tightly fisted in the tail of Lucifer's shirt so that his brother trailed after him as well. The other demon skirted away to the edges before hurriedly leaving the room.

When Rin stopped a scant few feet away, Satan leaned back to rest in his throne, one ankle propped up on his knees. He watched Rin, eyes bright, and the boy shuffled his feet uneasily. Both Satan and Lucifer tended to do that, simply watching him. It was unnerving.

"So, I hear that you were so scared of seeing me you popped off to Assiah to stalk your little brother again, eh Rin?"

The minute control he had over his powers snapped and the fires flickered at his temples once more, tail lashing with his irritation. "I ain't scared of you!" Rin yelled, tightening his grip on Lucifer's shirt.

Satan laughed. "Don't fool yourself, boy." He leaned forward, hands gripping Rin's chin tightly, his grin curled with teeth gleaming. "Mind you that those flames you so blatantly wield are _mine_." He allowed Rin to tear his chin away, still darkly amused. He settled back on his throne, leaning on one arm. It was always a curiosity to Rin why Satan had a throne a few sizes too big for him, but it seemed that it'd been tailored so Satan could sit in any position he desired. "Now, I have a surprise for you."

Trembling, Rin spat, "I don't want no surprises from _you_."

Satan grinned. "Oh, don't be such a piss baby. I promise you, it'll be an absolute _delight. _Now, get along with your brothers, hear?"

Rin stilled. Had Satan really found out he was talking to Samael? His pulse roared thunderously in his ears and he slowly uncurled his fingers away from Lucifer's shirt, for some reason ashamed. He focused on Satan's eyes, their blue color so light and wondrous it looked almost like flames were dancing merrily within them. They looked nothing like Rin's, jagged and pupils lined in red.

He held his breath, waiting for Satan to cast fire down on him and burn him alive, but the only warning he received was Satan's eyes darting towards the windows and Lucifer stiffening beside him. He barely had time to follow their gaze when he saw a blur of green rush at him. Then he felt the impact in his stomach and he choked, vision darkening from lack of breath. In the next instant he cried out as he slammed into stonework behind him. He collapsed onto the floor and curled in, on his knees and gasping. "W-what-," he wheezed out, colors exploding in his eyes. He breathed in deeply only to have it leave him in a choked gasp when something yanked him up by the collar.

His eyes pinwheeled violently before settling on a golden gaze. He blinked and the perpetrator's face came into focus, with dark hair and eyes that tilted down at the ends, marred by bags so deep it looked like he hadn't slept for a century. Rin could feel the cloth of his collar tearing with the stranger's grip. With an instinctive vicious growl Rin curled up and kicked into the demon's stomach, forcing the grip on him loose so that he could push away. He flipped backwards to land on his feet and rubbed the now bare area at his chest.

In the demon's still fisted hand were the tatters of his shirt. The demon staggered straight, but this time he was grinning maniacally.

"Who-who _are_ you? What...what's _wrong _with you?" Rin said finally, knees bent so that he could run if the demon started after him again.

"Who...? Ah, yes. I'm Amaimon, the King of Earth. I'm kind of like your older brother, heh. What's _wrong_ with me?" The demon parroted, words trailing lazily and languidly, like he had no worries in the world. Amaimon dropped his fist and cocked his head. "Lots of things. I'm bored, for one. But Father promised me a good fight with you. Hey," he said, and leapt forward. Rin staggered backward and raised his arms up instinctively, crossing them above his head in fear. He grunted at the impact of Amaimon's fist, crying out at the following pain. He looked up to find Amaimon's face inches from his own, eyes gleaming and sharply contrasting the shadows on his face. "Can you entertain me? Can you fight me?"

With a growl Rin pushed him away, stepping backwards quickly to put space between them. Amaimon straightened and stalked him, eyes alight with a glow that made Rin's heart quiver. He wanted to look at Lucifer, to plead with his brother to save him, but he was afraid that in the brief moment he looked away Amaimon would attack him.

"Hey, focus on me," Amaimon demanded, before leaping to attack him again. Without thinking Rin burned his flames, surrounding himself with the blue fire until the world he saw was tinted in shades of blue. Amaimon screeched and aborted his attack, wheeling away and catching Rin in the face with a clawed hand. Rin cried out and stumbled back, grasping at the bleeding wound. The hot liquid trailed down his chin and throat and, unhindered by clothes, continued to drip down his chest. He pulled his hand away and stared at the blood. It didn't look like blood. It looked purple in his flames, and he felt the tears stinging at the corners of his eyes.

It didn't look like human blood.

Amaimon was wheeling around, still screaming, patting at the flames eating away his clothes and charring his flesh. Rin's gut clenched, and he could taste the guilt on his tongue, sour and heavy. But as his wounds healed, the skin stitching itself back together and the flow of blood ceasing, the moment passed and he curled his lip in anger.

Amaimon had hurt Rin.

Amaimon had wounded _him_ first. Besides, demons weren't humans. Rin didn't have to feel too badly about hurting them in the end...right?

With a demonic snarl Rin leapt forward, landing on Amaimon's back, hands reaching around to dig into Amaimon's face. Amaimon screamed, bucking wildly and clawed hands gouging Rin wherever he could reach him. Tears streamed down Rin's face, but he dug in. He felt something soft giving way under his fingers and pressed harder, curling his fingers in and feeling almost giddy at the way his nails continued to pierce and puncture the flesh beneath them. Amaimon screamed louder, and he bent forward, hands finally settling on Rin's sides. The nails pierced through cloth and flesh before he bodily lifted Rin up and, with an inhuman roar, launched Rin away.

Rin sailed through the air, his gut lifting, and he squeezed his eyes shut. With a loud crack he landed sideways against a column, and a pain so intense overtook Rin that he lost time for a moment.

Blissfully, everything was dark and quiet, but then he breathed in and light overloaded him, so bright and so intense that he tried to curl his face in, away. But the movement sent shock waves of pain through his body and Rin cried and inhaled sharply at the same time, blood filling his mouth so that he choked on the gasp. He wanted to heave himself up on all fours so that he could spit the blood in his mouth out but he couldn't even feel his legs to achieve the motion, and so he forced the spittle and gore out from the corners of his mouth, teeth clenched tightly in pain.

His fingers scrabbled at the stonework beneath him, nails gouging the floors and leaving trenches behind. He panted, mouth finally clear enough for him to breathe. The pain was less, but still intense enough that he couldn't open his eyes from it, still couldn't bring himself to lift his head up let alone stand up.

Something...something was very wrong. His heart thundered furiously in his chest, and he still felt short of breath. He could feel his arms, could feel the way they trembled violently before him. But he couldn't feel his legs.

With a gasp the pain receded like a wave returning momentarily to the ocean, and he cracked his eyes open. Tears that he hadn't noticed before were running unbidden down his cheeks, blurring his vision. The world was tinted blue and he could see the sky through one of the windows. The pain returned then and he cried out again, squeezing his eyes shut and breathing quickly. When it died down once more he cracked his eyes open and, breath by breath, forced his neck to bend so he could look down.

When he'd landed his body had crumpled slightly curled, and he could see his legs stretched before him but… they… they didn't look right. One was twisted, facing the wrong direction, and though the other looked fine he still couldn't feel them. His started breathing quickly, gasping hard enough that he moved his back and the pain came back so intense he blacked out from it again.

When he managed to open his eyes, he looked up and saw Lucifer. Relief coursed through him.

Lucifer would help him. Lucifer would fix him. He tried to call out to his brother but his mouth was dry. He licked his lips, but when he opened his mouth no words came out. By the time he could finally force a word out he had fully focused on his brother and finally noticed with mounting horror what he was doing. His brother's face was twisted deeply in rage, and in that moment Rin remembered that they were descendant of angels, God's fierce and mighty army.

Lucifer had an arm stretched out, and Rin trailed it. He felt his heartbeat slow down, each beat so far apart and so deep in his ears that it drowned out all sound. Lucifer's arm was missing the sleeve of his shirt, tatters of it hanging from his bicep, and his forearm was so tense Rin could see a vein throbbing violently. His fist was clenched, each knuckle bright and white and the tendons so prominent it looked like his hand was carved of stone.

Clenched in his fist was Amaimon. Lucifer held the demon king around his throat, and Amaimon scrabbled against him uselessly. Even though Lucifer held his arm straight, he was tall enough that Amaimon dangled a foot off the ground. His feet kicked at the air uselessly, and his hands tore Lucifer's hand, nails leaving bright red trails in their wake. Amaimon was pale and gasping, the pallor of his face in stark contrast to the vivid blood marring the upper half of his face, running in rivets over his cheeks and jaws, dripping onto Lucifer's tightly tensed hands. The blood was so sharp, so red, it sprung tears in Rin's eyes. He didn't know why, only that seeing it hurt him deeply. Like Lucifer's and Satan's eyes and their blue flames, the memory was imprinted on him as one of the few vivid colors in Gehenna.

But it paled in comparison to Lucifer's face.

Lucifer's gaze was so bright you could not look at him. Rin had only blinked at him before darting his gaze away, trying to focus on anything else and bring back definition to his darkened vision, and when it did he could almost see the light rays emanating from Lucifer's fierce gaze.

The shock of what he'd seen had dulled his pain, but when his scrutiny landed on Satan's amused grin he gasped as the broken bones sent a wave of burning nerves through him, convulsing at the pain. His eyes slid shut the moment they met Satan's gaze.

A second later he felt a warm hand on his forehead, and when he wearily looked up he met intense blue eyes. Warmth cascaded over him, dulling the hurt he felt. He cried in relief.

When he closed his eyes again it felt like only a minute had passed before he was forced to open them again by another touch on his head. A gentle, shaking, hand was shifting through his hair, and he found Lucifer crouching before him, eyes dulled enough that Rin could look at him without going blind.

The pain was...less. He still felt it in waves but they weren't as extreme as before. He grinned crookedly so that Lucifer would look less worried, but his brother grimaced as if in pain and looked away. Rin twisted to follow his gaze, to see if Amaimon had hurt him, but with the movement he felt a cloth tug at his legs. With a cry he looked down and found them looking normal, toes firmly facing towards the ceiling as he lay on his back. He lifted himself onto his forearms and wiggled his toes, wincing slightly at the pain but too relieved to mind it.

He could feel his legs again! He wanted to bend forward and kiss his knees, but his back sharply protested the movement and sent the renewed nerves there on fire. With a groan he lay back down and fisted his hands against his eyes.

A gentle hand rubbed his head, and Rin fell asleep again.

* * *

**A/N: **Ta-da! It's Amaimon ^^ Don't worry, he'll be...mentioned again ha ha. I've never written a fight scene before, and still I feel this barely qualifies as one for its...brevity. But poor lil Rin! Satan needs some serious lessons on child rearing. Someone should tell him that you shouldn't pit your demonic hair-trigger-ed children against each other.

In case it wasn't clear, when Amaimon threw Rin he broke his back clean in half P: Every time Rin blacks out, except for the last time, its due to extreme pain.

Anyways, I hope this fight scene was written well enough, and that you enjoyed Amaimon's 'exciting' entrance. I'm done with finals and have flown back home for the summer, so yay to more writing! Let me know what you think of this chapter, yea? Feedback on the fight would be nice ^^


	18. Chapter 14

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

* * *

_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 14_

_Gehenna_

* * *

**Note: Brief mentions of Gore.**

* * *

Rin stretched his arms above his head, locking and popping his joints and curving backwards even as his back sharply protested the movement. There were still some aches and pains, but when Rin had woken up that morning the majority of the pain was gone. He didn't actually remember much of the previous day, and thought it best that way. The brief glimpses he had retained didn't seem to imply he was missing out on much.

But he did remember Amaimon, and he remembered the way Amaimon's back had convulsed and bucked under him, the way his knees had dug into flesh and felt the beginnings of ribs, and the way his face had given way under his nails. It was a disgusting sensation that lingered on his fingertips, and he rubbed them against the leg of his pants, hoping to remove the tactile ghosts.

He walked from his inner rooms and found the living room empty. He glanced with surprise out the windows and found the day to still be pale with the promise of sunrise looming. He must've woken up pretty early to have beat even Rang. He crossed into bathroom and cleaned himself up, and though he felt reasonably clean - he suspected someone had washed him while he'd been asleep - he still bathed, carding his fingers through his hair and suddenly recalling how Lucifer had done the same the night prior. His brother had refused to look at him, and Rin wondered if it was from being ashamed at Rin's poor performance. He glanced into the mirror and thought to repress his powers again. He wrapped them carefully until all he saw reflected back at him was a blue-eyed human boy with ears a tad sharp but still passable.

When he stepped back into the living area no one still hadn't come, so he plopped onto one of the sofas with a resigned sigh. He kicked his legs in the air, staring at the scar on his leg again. Curious, Rin pulled the hem of his shirt up so that it bunched around his chest. He bent into the sofa, propping his feet on the edge and curling his toes around it, looking at his sides.

On either side of torso, closer to his back than to his stomach, were shiny waxy curved crescents. He remembered the sensation of Amaimon's nails going in and shuddered, dropping his shirt. He perched forward in his seat, hands gripping the edge so he could slide off and investigate his back properly in the bath room when he felt someone breathe behind him.

Before he could turn sinewy arms wrapped around his shoulders, folding over each other and tugging Rin back with a cry until he rested against the sofa. The hands tapered off into sharp nails, and he could feel the person's warmth on his shoulders and neck where they rested against him. A head settled on his left shoulder, startling him to jerk away futilely, nuzzling the side of his head and pushing his hair up in tufts, and Rin was sure he could feel the way his heart pounded in fear.

"Rin, Rin, hello," the voice, not quite soft enough to be so close to his ear, made him wince and Rin wiggled desperately to get free. The demon tightened his hold, before indulgently letting him go. Even as Rin backed against the arm of the couch to investigate, he saw Amaimon clamber over the back of the sofa, crouching into the cushions and reaching out to grab Rin again.

Rin backed off the couch nervously, eyes flickering to the windows and back to Amaimon. "What are you doing here?" Rin demanded. "Are...are you here to kill me?"

"What?" Amaimon said, slowly, like he didn't care for the current topic. "No, that'd be no fun!"

"No _fun_," Rin repeated incredulously, but he relaxed anyways, tension bleeding from his shoulders. Amaimon would've attacked him already, and Rin didn't really sense any ill intent from him. He squinted at Amaimon, trying to see his face from the shadows covering it. The sun was really rising by then, and it threw Amaimon into shadows from where Rin was standing. He blinked a few times and gasped.

What he thought had simply been shadows and too much shaggy hair turned out to bandages. Around his entire head, the bandages were wrapped from one eye, over the slope of his nose, and to the other, rendering Amaimon entirely blind. Rin lifted a shaking hand to touch the line where the cloth ended and Amaimon's face began, feeling the sharp difference. "What happened?" Rin murmured softly, shocked.

Amaimon's hand came up to touch the other cheek, fingers resting over the bandages and just under where his eye would be. "Huh? This? You did this." He said it simply with no malice, like as if he'd said the sky were blue. Matter of factly. Truthfully.

Rin shuddered violently and backed away, eyes widening. No. No, Rin hadn't done that, had he?

_Amaimon screamed, bucking wildly and clawed hands gouging Rin wherever he could reach him. Tears streamed down Rin's face, but he dug in. He felt something soft giving way under his fingers and pressed harder, curling his fingers in and feeling almost giddy at the way his nails continued to pierce and puncture the flesh beneath them._

_Amaimon screamed louder._

Bile rose in his throat and Rin ran to the bathroom, stopping just inside when he vomited suddenly, body convulsing. But he hadn't eaten in nearly a day, and so only spittle and stomach acid splashed onto the floor, covering his toes and even his ankles with the mess. It burned his chest and his throat and Rin began to cry.

He had believed himself to be more human than demon, even after all this time. Despite what he had told Yukio, Rin didn't want to be a demon. Sure, it had been cool to jump around and learn to fight, but for what? So he could hurt people like this? So he could blind them and feel almost happy at it?

Shakily, he wiped his mouth and turned away from the mess he'd made, nose wrinkling from the scent as he gagged again. He wanted to clean himself, to wipe off his toes and ankles and rinse the taste from his mouth.

But he also wanted to curl into his bed, hidden from the word in layers of white, and close his eyes and pretend he was still only ten and with Yukio, struggling in math and with friends but happy nonetheless.

He didn't want to be a demon.

His own bile was making him sick again, so he jumped over it and rinsed himself off best as he could, holding his breath and only breathing shallowly when he needed to. He scrubbed himself pink and rinsed his mouth until cheeks ached from swishing the liquid around. He left the room without another glance and found Amaimon still in the living room, perched strangely on the couch with his legs under him and propped on his toes, and eyeing him curiously.

Rin's mouth dried. He didn't know what to say.

But, weirdly enough, Amaimon spoke first. "It's okay," the king of earth said, facing Rin but bandages obscuring whatever expression he may have had. "It'll heal, and I did you bad too. I broke your back."

Rin winced and he bent his arm back to rub at the base of his spine. No wonder he'd been in so much pain. He'd expected it, but to be told so bluntly blind-sided him. His back had been broken, but if he hadn't been a demon, he surely would've been crippled for life, or even have died.

"So it's okay. 'Sides, Dad told me it's my punishment." Amaimon dug a hand into his pocket and pulled a lolly out. He unwrapped the candy with unerring precision and popped into his mouth. Rin wondered if he had any more to share.

But Amaimon had succeeded in capturing his attention. "Punishment? What for?"

"For losing," he replied simply, and Rin stepped closer. He didn't sit on the same sofa again - regardless of whether Amaimon didn't want to kill him, he hadn't quite forgotten the fact he'd broken his back - but instead on an adjacent armchair, curling into it as he began to feel the ill effects of his earlier sickness.

"For losing...against me?" Rin wondered.

"That too," Amaimon mumbled around the lolly, in what Rin would almost say would be a pouting manner. The cheek not holding the lolly was puffed out indignantly, and it unnerved Rin how someone who could break his back be, the next day, pouting while nursing a wounded pride and eating a lollipop.

"Did...did Lucifer hurt you?" Rin asked, hesitant. He wanted to know, but at the same time he didn't.

Before Amaimon could answer - who was too busy sucking on his lolly to really bother in the first place - Lucifer threw open the double doors, face dark like the impending rolling of storm clouds. Rin clambered up from his seat in surprise, feeling almost guilty for being so close to Amaimon.

"N-nii-san!" Rin said, stumbling over the words at his sudden entrance. Lucifer stopped when Rin approached him, and Rin grasped at his shirttails. It struck him, then, that maybe Lucifer didn't want Rin touching him, or to touch Rin. Normally Lucifer would lay a tender hand on Rin's head, or curve his fingers briefly on his shoulder. While Lucifer was also verbally affectionate, Rin found that he told his tender feelings more often in those brief touches.

Lucifer looked down at him even as Rin had to crane his neck to look up at him, his expression startlingly blank from the previous anger. It looked almost desperate, in its own way. How the skin stretched taut at the corners of his lips and eyes, and in the terrifying look in his eyes. Rin felt his stomach drop. He slowly let go of Lucifer's shirt and stepped back, dropping his gaze to his feet.

"I'm sorry," Rin blurted into the silence. He heard the distant cry of thunder, and realized that maybe all the pressure he felt in the air was due to the incoming storm.

"For what?" Lucifer said softly, and Rin jerked at the quiet sound of hurt in his voice.

Rin didn't know what to say. For not being good enough, for hurting Amaimon, for failing in being the angel Lucifer often claimed he was. He instead gripped the hem of his shirt in his hands, the cloth wrinkling between his fingers and his teeth grinding against each other.

"Do you think this is all your fault?" Lucifer prodded, and Rin hesitated before nodding his head. Satan had brought Amaimon to test Rin, after all.

"No," Lucifer said, shocking Rin when he dropped to his knees before him. "No, no, don't think that." He slipped a finger under Rin's chin and nudged him to look up. Lucifer's eyes were so dulled that for once Rin saw only one color in them, a gentle hue of green so pale it looked like a promise of spring.

He felt a breeze that carried the scent of rain, and he turned away from Lucifer's eyes to find Amaimon gone, leaving no trace behind. When he felt Lucifer's hand begin to shake he turned back and found his brother studying him, his own eyes looking haunted.

"Do not believe this is your fault. None of this is. They are consequences begot by our father's wretched curiosity, and none of them are your fault."

Rin looked down again, feeling his throat close. "I blinded Amaimon."

"He will heal. He deserved it," Lucifer said bitingly, and Rin looked up to find something close to hatred burning in Lucifer's face. It took Rin aback. "It's a lesson for him in humility that he is not the strongest of us."

Rin frowned. "I don't want to teach anyone any lessons. I'm just a kid."

Then, Lucifer smiled, the corners of his eyes creasing enough so that he didn't look so sad, and the curve of his mouth gentle and tender. "Yes, you're just a kid, subject to our whims and fancies and our schemes for the future. Just a kid," Lucifer repeated softly, and though Rin was confused by most of what he'd said, he understood that Lucifer didn't hate him or blame him, or think of him for worse. He leant forward to wrap his arms around Lucifer's neck - a gentle difference from Amaimon's possessive hug - and bowed his head in the crook of his brother's neck, and something warm bloomed in his chest when Lucifer hugged him back.

* * *

**A/N: **A bit short, yes, but a necessary chapter; the emotional aftermath of the fight. I need to read AnE again, since I feel like I'm losing touch with Rin's character. Gotta remember he's 11 here...but can't stray too far from his personality. He'll bounce right back anyways, he's a strong kid. Just a tad too young to be dealing with back-breaking, blood, violence, and putting someone's eyes out with his bare hands. Also! Yes, I changed some contents of chapter 13 a bit, since it'd slipped my mind I had intended for Amaimon to be blinded by Rin. Just some minor details there, but re-read if you'd like. And for better or for worse, Amaimon is intending to stay for a while. Not much he can do now anyways, blind as he is.

And...uh...sorry if I grossed anyone out with the throw-up scene. There's only so many synonyms you can use for throwing-up haha

And thank you so much for the feedback on the fight scene! I really really appreciate it! Especially since there are several more planned, given that this _is_ an Ao no Exorcist fic lol also thank you FancyUsername. I really laughed at the lightbulb comment lmao

So there's some fluff to make-up for the angst, which won't last long because Rin, for all that his situation is really shitty, just doesn't do angst? Idk friend, I'm inclined to believe he's just suppressing some of this stuff but that might just be me.


	19. Chapter 15

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist.**

***Properly edited.**

* * *

_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 15_

_Gehenna_

* * *

Rin's daily life returned to normal…

...was something he _wished_ would have happened.

It seemed to, for a few moments. He had breakfast in his rooms as usual, went to classes as usual, and everything seemed fine (though each of his instructors had taken a moment to remind themselves Rin was a son of Satan and therefore not prone to dying despite the circumstances).

Then lunch came around.

After breakfast, Lucifer had deposited him in the good hands of Rang. Rin had learned that Lucifer had spoken to his retainer before coming to his rooms to inform Rang that Lucifer would be eating with him that morning. So from then until noon Rin had been with Rang, who was honestly a breath of fresh air to Rin - he was getting tired of all the surprise attacks he'd been receiving recently.

"Honestly, Rin," Rang began again, and Rin suppressed a groan. "I leave you alone for _one day_ and you get into a fight, break your back not to mention all your other wounds, and end up out of commission for the rest of the day!"

Rin wrinkled his nose. "_Out of commission_? What does that mean?"

Rang quickened his pace a few steps to open the doors for Rin, allowing the young prince to precede him into the room. He spoke as he stepped after Rin, "It means to not be working, or to be unavaila-GYAK."

Rin stumbled forward as Rang walked into him, but he was too preoccupied with the surprise guest sitting at their table.

But, sitting wasn't the right word for it. Amaimon was once again perched on his toes, bent in half in the seat, and instead of giving the table its money's worth, Amaimon held the plate in one hand, hovering over his knees, as he scooped forkfuls of cake from it. With a full mouth he waved a frosting covered fork towards Rin in a semblance of a wave, speaking around the pastry in his mouth. "'Ullo Frin!" Amaimon said cheerfully.

"What are you doing here!" Rin half demanded, half yelled. He stalked towards the demon king, ignoring his shell-shocked retainer behind him. "I thought you were gone!"

Amaimon turned to follow Rin's voice, then jabbed his hand down to sever another piece of cake. He missed by an inch and jammed the metal into the porcelain, eliciting a screech so severe Rin slapped one hand over his ear and the other at Amaimon, forcing the offending noise to stop. "Don't just jab at it! At least _try_ to find the cake!"

Finally swallowing his mouthful, Amaimon grinned in what Rin was positive was supposed to be a cheerful but only came off as deranged manner, what with the bandages and all. Amaimon swung his arms wide, narrowly missing Rin one one side and a high tea set on the other, long too-big sleeves fluttering in their wake and crumbles of cake tumbling off the plate. "Brother, brother, I came to see you again!" He wrapped his arms around Rin, forcing him to bend over Amaimon's knees awkwardly.

Rin battered at his arms. "Let go! That hurts my back!"

Surprisingly enough, Amaimon did let go, one hand going to reach for his tea and the other coming up to rest on the side of Rin's face, fingers blunt and calloused, but warm. "I'm sorry little brother," Amaimon said, and Rin was surprised by the sincerity he could hear in the words.

Embarrassed, Rin pushed away and said, in a voice too gruff to be heard clearly, "It's nothing, don't go making a big deal."

Amaimon tilted his head curiously, but Rang must've made a movement or something behind Rin, because Amaimon's head shot up and angled to face beyond Rin. "Who is there?"

"Oh!" Rin exclaimed, wheeling around to face Rang. "This is my retainer, RangShorak!" He desperately hoped Rang would not be offended that Rin didn't remember his full name. It was just too much to ask of him. "Rang, this is my...uhh...my older brother, Amaimon, the King of Earth." It tasted weird on his tongue, to call Amaimon his older brother, though it was the truth.

"It is my deepest honor to meet you, my lord," Rang said, dipping into a low bow. Rin sucked in a displeased breath, the sound whistled between his clenched teeth. Much as he disliked Rang's deference and fealty towards Lucifer, it rankled even more for it to be directed at Amaimon. Rin desperately suppressed the sudden impulse to demand that Rang never speak like that again to anyone, least of all Amaimon, but bit down on the words.

"Un," was all Amaimon said, before he turned back to Rin. "Hey, Rin, let's play," he whined, hands coming forward to tug at Rin's. Flabbergasted and upset at the way Amaimon had dissed Rang, Rin shook off his hands and stomped to his seat, waving Rang forward when the retainer made no move to follow.

Hesitantly, and too slowly for Rin's liking, Rang complied, taking a seat by Rin and far away from Amaimon. Rin noticed but didn't comment. "I can't, and even if I could, I dun wanna." Rin said acerbically, then winced. He added, "I have lessons the rest of the day."

"Skip them," Amaimon said without pause and Rin's head shot up to face him, incredulity etched into every line.

"_Skip them_?! I can't! Especially not now! I have Lucifer's class this afternoon!"

Amaimon stiffened at Lucifer's name, then seemed to fold into himself in a sulk. "Fine," he pouted, once again reaching forward to stab his plate, though thankfully he made it into the cake. Rin sighed, exasperated. Noticing the lull in conversation, a maid finally stepped forward to deliver Rin's and Rang's meal, and Rin dug in with delight.

It was only after several bites had forced their way into his stomach that Rin noticed Rang wasn't eating. "What's wrong?" Rin asked between and around mouthfuls.

Rang hesitated, glancing between his plate and Amaimon before looking back down. "It's nothing young master." He cut a small slice for himself and ate, and while Rin was not wholly satisfied, so long as Rang ate he wouldn't pursue the matter...right then. There was always a later.

Rin contented himself with eating his fill, savoring the bites. Recently, in the early mornings when he, for some unholy demented reason, woke up too early, he'd sneak down into the kitchen's he'd finally found after trial and error.

He liked to watch the cooks create his meals. They permitted him in that they never told Lucifer or Satan that Rin ever went, and allowed him to munch on the bowl of fruit always left out. The kitchens were huge - granted, for the size of their castle it ought to have been - and there was a huge mess area filled with wooden tables that reminded Rin of picnic benches. Staff came in intervals to eat and gossip, tittering over what This Lord had done, or what That Lady had said. Their favorite piece of gossip was actually Rin himself. Apparently, despite being there for a year, his appearance warranted talking about still.

Rin didn't like gossip and didn't care to hear it, much less when it was about himself. None of what they ever said was bad, per se (since demons were almost fanatically loyal, at times), but it reminded Rin of his time in Assiah. With too many bad memories associated with the act, Rin just preferred to stay out of it altogether.

The first few times he'd snuck into the kitchens, Rin sat on unoccupied counters, watching one of the cookes create delicious meals. When his appearance had finally grown on the chefs, the some odd third or fourth time, he'd been watching a cook stir some kind of meaty thick sauce that had his mouth watering, eyes shining as he watched the preparations, when he'd heard the first whisper about him.

Rin had discovered that with a castle as huge as theirs was, the servant's jobs never ended. Of course, there were rounds and shifts, but there was always at least a handful working, and so the jobs of the chefs never ended, too. Workers came in rounds to eat at the mess tables, and to share their day's worth of knowledge.

Rin didn't usually listen to their gossip, and he'd just worked up enough courage to ask the chef to allow him to help when he caught his name.

Everything in him came to a still, even his breathing, as he strained his hearing to listen.

"Have you seen the little prince recently?" A maid said. Rin hopped off the counter and stepped closer to the walls dividing the kitchen and mess area.

"Did you forget?" Her companion snorted. "I pissed off Lord Delico and now I'm relegated to sewage duty. _Sewage_. I wish I could stuff Lord Delico down into the crap he makes."

"Is that why you stink?" The maid sniffed, and then quickly cut off the servants outraged reply. "But nevermind that. So, you haven't seen him?"

"_No_." The servant groused, and Rin stopped by the open doorway, back pressed to the wall. "Why?" He heard the faint scraping of utensils against bowls, and then slurping.

"He bumped into me coming in from the east courtyard. _Again_. Not the bumping into me part, but the coming in from the courtyard." The maid spoke excitedly, then sighed, a weird delighted sound that made Rin wrinkle his brow. Hadn't he hit her?

"East? But that one opens into the second floor. Don't you work on the fourth?" The servant asked, and his bowl scraped across the woodwork as it was shoved aside.

"Exactly!" The maid cried excitedly. "He was jumping in from the windows again. Honestly, he always gives us such a scare!" She giggled.

"He's tracking mud all over, _that's _what he's doing," the servant corrected, though without malice. "Colt's been complaining that he keeps finding little dirty footprints to clean up after!"

"Colt complains about everything," the maid invalidated. "'Sides, how could you possibly mind cleaning up after the little prince?"

The servant made a sound, as if to reply, but the cook had noticed where Rin had scampered off to and ambled into the doorway in a rage. "Hey!" He barked, banging his spoon against the siding. Rin peeked around to find the maid and servant hastily jerking up, banging their knees, and then carefully sliding out from the benches. "Get to work you loose-mouthed idiots!"

The maid sucked in a gasp when her eyes fell on Rin's. "Oh," she said weakly, and then dropped into a curtsy, the servant beside her almost cracking his back into a bow. In unison, they said reverently, "My lord."

Rin scowled at the sight and turned into the kitchens, jumping out one of the windows and ignoring the cook's cry. It was almost time to be in his rooms anyways.

After that incident, whenever he made his way into the kitchens, inevitably a curious head would peek through the doorway, spy him, and run away giggling and excitedly whispering to others, _Yes, yes! Look, he's here, sitting on the counters! Shh, shh, he can hear you, idiot! Look at him there!_

Rin didn't like being made into a spectacle, but he was used to being stared at by now, even if he hated the curious eyes with a passion. It made him self-conscious, and every time he shifted his hair into some semblance of order the servants always laughed.

Be messy and they cooed. Be neat and they laughed. Couldn't they just leave him alone?

Still, he adored the cooks. Being that they made everyone's meals, they were held in high esteem, and always their word was the law, especially for the servants and maids. With a curt, "You tell no one about the young prince's visits, hear?" not a word traveled outside the mess hall. Lucifer and Rang never knew, and for that Rin was grateful. He was almost positive that if they found out, he'd be barred from coming down to watch them cook.

Rin was determined that on his next visit, he'd be allowed to help. Cooking looked like so much _fun_! He wanted to try, or, rather, he wanted to cook again. The last meal he'd made had been pancakes for Yukio and him, and his fingers itched to make something else. Maybe pancakes again, that'd be nice. He wondered if Lucifer or Rang had ever eaten them before.

With a delighted lick of his lips, Rin cleaned them of any remnants of gravy. He turned to Rang and asked, "It's time to go, ain't it?"

"Isn't it." Rang corrected without thinking, then darting a hurried glance to Amaimon, who remained fascinated with the entire chocolate cake the maid had brought out. "Yes, yes it is," he said quickly. "Would you like to go now?"

Creasing his brow, Rin nodded. "Uh, yea. I'd like to go now." He turned to Amaimon, who somehow sensed his gaze and looked up. "Uhh… I'm going to my lessons now. What are you going to do?"

"Eat cake," Amaimon said blandly, and then stabbed a fork somewhere towards the center of the dessert. Rin blanched. _The entire thing? _He wondered incredulously, then shrugged. He wasn't going to be the one with a stomach ache later...though would his demonic healing prevent that? Hmmm.

"Ok," Rin said, hopping off his seat to leave. Rang stood behind him, pushing in his and Rin's chair, making Rin's cheeks blush, ashamed.

"Rin." Amaimon called, and when he stayed silent Rin walked around the table to stand next to him, curious. Amaimon callously dropped his hand on Rin's head, flopping his sleeve all around it before dragging it down behind Rin's neck and tugging him closer. Alarmed, Rin wiggled his arms up and shoved against Amaimon to get away, but his grip was like iron. He felt Amaimon shift his bandaged face up and to the side, and said in a voice like death, "Leave."

Rin could hear Rang bow, murmur a "yes, my lord," and leave, shutting the door behind him. Rin struggled harder, afraid now. Amaimon tightened his grip, fingertips almost overlapping around Rin's neck.

"Quit struggling, little brother," Amaimon breathed near his ear, head bowed beside his. Rin stilled at the warmth wafting at his sensitive ears, stray hairs swaying with each breath. "I will not hurt you."

Rin breathed in deeply, and could smell antiseptic, cake, and something warm like the earth. Amaimon was relaxed, and the hand around his neck was lax now, fingers resting lightly over his skin and the collar of his shirt. Amaimon pulled back enough for Rin to see his bandaged face, the usually lazily expression pulling into something resembling an amused smirk.

"Brother Samael sends his regards," Amaimon said casually, and chins ran down Rin's spine. A fingertip moved slightly to rest against the heartbeat thumping in his throat. "Only I know…" he leaned closer, tilting his forehead against Rin's and fingers squeezing just enough for Rin to feel the threat. "And I won't tell…if you play with me."

Scowling, Rin pushed away even as he nodded jerkily, combing his fingers through his wayward hair nervously. "Alright," he said tersely. "But you can't tell _anyone_! No one!" Amaimon merely grinned and turned back to his cake, waving a sleeve in a clear dismissal that had Rin's ears turning red in anger.

Huffing, Rin left, slamming the door closed behind him. Rang shifted from where he stood next to it, brow wrinkled in worry. Rin shook his head and walked away, feeling slightly delighted when Rang followed him without a word.

A dull crack of thunder echoed into the castle, muted in the hallway they were in. Rin peered thoughtfully upwards. "My fighting lessons are gonna be canceled, huh?" He asked morosely, choosing to ignore the questions he could feel in Rang's gaze.

Rang, who had been quiet thus far, said lightly. "You weren't going to be doing any exercise anyways. Your esteemed father made it quite clear that you were to heal."

"_Esteemed_ father?" Rin cried, aghast. "Estehmed or not, he's the one who made me like this in the first place! Now he's taking away my only fun class?"

"Hey!" Rang said, insulted. "I try really hard to hold your attention, you know."

Rin ignored him, too upset by the news. "That means...that means we're gonna do nothing _but_ go over strategies." He groaned, rubbing his hands through his hair in agitation. "Man, this sucks!"

He trudged through the following class with BianAyrlo, who was, thankfully, the only person who didn't go crazy about checking Rin over to make sure he was alive. She merely cast speculative eyes over Rin, looked meaningfully at Rang's presence beside his lord, and then launched into her lessons regarding the formation of a demon's horns. Rin groaned in agony.

In his next class, Rin shrugged off the top coat he wore - something he would normally go without but that Rang and Lucifer insisted he wear when about the castle - and greeted StygiMerlo with a wide toothy grin. "Sensei!" He called. The first few times they had looked at him weird for it, but Rin refused to call them by their given name. It felt too weird to call his teachers by anything but the respectful term, though Rang was an exception.

"Rin," Merlo breathed, gray eyes wide, and before Rin could blink his fighting instructor was before him, crouched on the balls of his feet, dark skin tight around his eyes and his mouth, an expression Rin knew to mean he was displeased. Rin shrank back, tail curling in towards him even as he took in his teacher's unusual appearance. Merlo normally kept his hair in a very high severe ponytail, but now it was down without any decoration, falling to the small of his back and over his shoulders and arms.

"I'm sorry," Rin said nervously, eager to get Merlo's disappointment out of the way. "I didn't do good in the fight. All that training and the moment it's all for, I messed up."

Merlo took Rin's hands in his, startling Rin to yelp and try to yank them away before allowing them to linger, hesitant. Merlo's dark fingers tightened around Rin's, and while Rin wasn't pale by any means, beside Merlo's skin Rin looked ashen.

"Don't apologize," Merlo said harshly, and Rin flinched, startled. Merlo never spoke above a calm, neutral, tone. He never lost his patience, never rose his voice, and certainly never spoke to Rin with something akin to anger in his words. At Rin's jerk, Merlo's gaze softened. "No, please don't be afraid. I'm not angry."

Rin looked into his gray eyes, searching for any sign of anger. There was still the tightness around his eyes, his lips pressed tightly against each other and his black eyebrows knit in what seemed frustration, but Rin trusted his words. He deliberately relaxed, and Merlo's lips twitched into a small smile.

"May I?" Merlo asked, and though Rin didn't really know what he was asking he nodded anyways, curious and still afraid of the earlier anger. Merlo tugged one hand away from where he held Rin's, going around Rin and drifting down his back until he reached halfway down. Fingers pressed lightly against his skin, shifting first up, then down, lightly. When he reached towards the small of Rin's back, a sharp pain lanced through his spine, neck, and even his tail, and he winced, recoiling from the touch and bumping into Merlo's chest.

Instantly Merlo pulled his hand away, face still tense. "I see." He murmured, before shifting to stand and smiling down at Rin. "I'm sorry for that, I just needed to check how the wound was."

Rin hissed in anger. "Ya could've just asked!" He tenderly reached behind to rub the spot, sucking in a breath when he found the sensitive area and dropping his hand. "Now I'm gonna notice that the rest of the day."

Used to Rin's grumbles, Merlo faintly smiled, and Rin did not miss the way his eyes darted to meet Rang's behind him, passing some message Rin didn't understand.

Whatever the moment was, it passed and Rin sighed in relief. He didn't do tense, unhappy, moments like this. It made his gut squirm and his insides feel funny, so he was happier when things relaxed as they were now. For the next hour Merlo went over Rin's fight with Amaimon in detail, praising him when he did well, and explaining what he could've done better.

"And certainly," Merlo said, tapping a slender finger against a paper detailing their notes. "Your flames are very powerful, but you mustn't rely solely on them. Your body is strong and has no discernible weakness aside from size - don't make that face, you'll get bigger soon - and your tail. I suppose as the son of Satan you are given his immaculate form as well."

"What?" Rin asked bluntly.

Rang took over, waving his hand as he explained. "Well, most demons look very different from each other. There are species, families, clans, etcetera. But Lord Satan and his children - you, Lord Lucifer, Lord Amaimon - you all share the ideal form. Aside from your tails, you don't really have explicit weaknesses like most demons do."

"Ohhh," Rin cooed, delighted. "That's awesome! Well, as long as I don't fight my brothers, it is!"

Rang and Merlo's eyes met above Rin's head, both thinking the same irony. The _only _demons itching to fight Rin were the very 'brothers' he had. It wasn't lost on any intelligent demon what Rin's blue flames promised.

To Rin's relief, class ended soon, and a servant informed Rin and Rang that Lucifer would be busy and for Rang to teach the next lesson. After enduring Rin's complaints good naturedly, Rang jokingly frog-marched Rin to their library, laughing when Rin retaliated by balancing on Rang's arms - forcing Rang to tilt forward in alarm - and then jumping up and over Rang, landing behind him with delighted laughter. The lesson was bright and easy, focusing on how Rin should react in polite company, though Rin purposely messed up often, inciting Rang to laugh and scold him. Dinner was similarly easy-going, and Rin was relieved to find Amaimon absent then.

All the previous gloom, and Rang's earlier weird silence, was blown away, and Rin was content and happy to head to bed after dinner. He wanted to go to sleep early, so he could wake up early and try to bully one of the chefs into allowing him to help.

Freshly showered and dressed in the strange nightclothes they'd given him - basically a long shirt that reached to mid-thigh - Rin snuggled blissfully into his bedsheets. He felt warm, not only from the damp hair curling on the pillow and the remnants of the hot shower trapped within his shirt, but also from the worry Lucifer, Rang, and Merlo had all shown him. He giggled and wiggled in place, burying his face into his pillow. Yukio had rarely been so openly affectionate like they were, and though Rin still cherished his twin with all his heart, he could not deny how much he craved the tender feelings they all showered him with here.

Still, it was Yukio he fell asleep thinking of, and in his dreams he smeared mud into his twin's face as they played in the light spring rain, a memory from long ago.

When Rin woke up, he snuggled into the warmth the bed retained, sighing when he felt cocooned in it. It was only as his brain slowly began to wake up that he realized his bed was not so hard or unyielding, and nor did it have arms to wrap around him.

Amaimon laughed gleefully as Rin scrambled away from his hold, falling off the bed.

* * *

**A/N: **Some more loose ends tied. At this rate, Rin won't want to leave Gehenna!

Just a note, but chapters 13, 14, and 15 were all meant to be one... but I just couldn't write all of it in one sitting! It also would've lacked a lot of detail and have been all bare-bones.

I was re-reading Demon's Tail recently (a fic I looove), and I highly recommend it! It's not complete...but it's sooo good. One of the best portrayals of Rin, in my opinion. It reminded me of key scenes in Ad Cap I would like to see drawn. Like when Amaimon first chokes Rin, and they're looking at each other forehead to forehead? Or when Rin first meets that demon in chapter 1. Just the ones I really visualize when I first write them.

Also! I'm super glad you all like Lucifer! Even though he's technically not an OC, most of his characterization is based off the few scenes he's featured in in the manga. I'll be real upset if my portrayal is far from accurate haha.

Next chapter! Featuring Yukio and all his angsty problems. And the plot finally moves forward? Hopefully.

*****Somehow I missed a whole chunk of this chapter when I was editing, so I've gone back to fix it. Hopefully it's more legible now haha please let me know what you think of this chapter too!


	20. Chapter 16

**Disclaimers Apply. I do not own Ao no Exorcist, only this story plot.**

* * *

_Ad Captandum_

_Chapter 16_

_Assiah_

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Yukio stormed into the monastery, flinching when he noticed a few patrons look up scowling at the noisy entrance. He inclined his head in apology before continuing on his hunt. He slid past the pews, altar, and into the side-door that headed towards the hallway that eventually led to their living quarters. It was simpler to just go around the entire monastery and enter the back, where the kitchen was, but Yukio found his patience running short.

Besides, Shiro's office was on the hallway. Yukio rapped his knuckles on the wooden door before stepping in regardless. Shiro looked up from the paperwork covering his desk, beads clacking with the movement. Behind his tinted glasses, Yukio could see Shiro focus momentarily on his face, sigh, and return his gaze to the papers.

Furious, Yukio stood, refusing to tap his feet and cross his arms and betray his anger as he waited. A hanging clock mocked Yukio with each moment that passed, the soft ticking accompanying the shuffle of papers and occasional clack of beads.

When Shiro finished the stack and moved to touch another, Yukio slammed his hand down on it before he could draw a sheaf. "Stop ignoring me!" Yukio demanded, ire steadily building even as he fought to maintain his calm appearance.

Shiro looked at him coolly, unfazed. "Let go," Shiro ordered, and Yukio pressed his lips together before complying, for once grateful that the sleeves of his school uniform was too long, hiding his clenched fists.

Shiro drew a sheet and Yukio fumed. "What is your problem?" Yukio asked hotly. "Why won't you let me take the exam? It's almost here and I already missed the last one because of -" he stopped himself short, not missing the way Shiro's hands stilled before resuming. "Don't tell me I'm not qualified." Yukio laughed shortly at the thought. "Even _Shura_ agrees that I am, and her praising me is just as likely as getting her to wear a shirt that actually covers her stomach!"

His temper was always quick to come and as quick to go, explosive in its nature, though he'd gotten better at reining it in. Even as he spoke the fire that had burned in his veins cooled enough that Yukio realized something was off about Shiro. It felt strange, like he was watching a mountain that had stood for eons finally crumble bit by bit, helpless to stop it. Shiro was as expressionless as would be expected of a man of his status, and the uneasy feeling in Yukio's stomach grew.

He watched as Shiro carefully set aside his pen, fingers coming to rest on top his desk, splayed. Finally, Shiro looked up at Yukio. "What do you want me do?" Shiro asked, momentarily throwing Yukio off his stride from the blunt question.

Fumbling, Yukio said, "I want you to stop babying me. I'm ready to take the exam, and you won't let me!"

"I can't!" Shiro yelled, squeezing his eyes shut and drawing his face into his hands, the beads clacking in the sudden silence that followed. Yukio felt his heart in his throat as he watched Shiro, speechless. "You can't ask that of me! I've already lost one son, and now you want me to throw the other into the fire?"

Even as he spoke, Yukio thought his own words were too cruel to be said. "You're going to hold me back because of your feelings? This is bigger than me and you. The longer you keep me here, the longer Rin stays in Gehenna, the worse it all gets!"

As always, speaking Rin's name hurt them both. Shiro's shoulders drew up, stiff, and Yukio's previous anger returned in spades. "I don't care!" Yukio said. "I just want to bring nii-san back, and here you are holding me down because of fear!"

Shiro was still, before he let his hands drop, and no longer was he the sharp-toothed cheeky priest that had raised Rin and Yukio. The Paladin stared Yukio down, face betraying nothing. It jarred Yukio to see the sudden shift from despair to apathy. "You think you're ready? You're a fool. This is a job, an obligation. The moment you sign that contract you've sold your soul. No longer will you be allowed to be just a teenage _human _boy. You're immature, short-tempered, and arrogant, all qualities looked down upon for an exorcist to have. Go back to your lessons." Shiro dismissed him, ignoring the angry flush that bloomed on Yukio's face.

The teen waffled for a second, torn between arguing his case and seeing the inevitably of it. Shiro would not change his mind, and Yukio was above fighting a hopeless cause. Scowling fiercely, Yukio bowed in a mockery of respect and left, fighting the urge to slam the door behind him.

Yukio was tempted to storm into his room, pack his things, and take the exam with or without Shiro's permission, but respect was deeply ingrained into Yukio, and so he dropped onto Rin's bed and covered his face with his hands, yanking his glasses away and uncaring if they broke.

Shiro just didn't understand. Yukio _needed_ to do this. He needed to move on, to pass the exam - which he knew he'd do, he'd trained for years - and work towards his goal. Saving Rin. Every moment wasted was one Rin had to spend in hell, under the thumb of Satan, life precariously in danger. Yukio understood- no, that wasn't the right word. Yukio could see where Shiro was coming from, he wasn't absolutely heartless after all, but he could not understand how Shiro could just hold Yukio back from reaching his potential because of something as fickle as fear.

His watch beeped by his ear, and Yukio sighed resignedly. It was time for his exorcist training. Dragging himself up, Yukio changed from his school uniform into something not so different (Rin would tease him, he knew, but he honestly didn't care for fashion) and left the monastery without meeting anyone, taking the back door and then winding through alleys until he made it to the gun range the True Cross had claimed.

It was a dingy affair accessible only through a hole-in-the-wall's basement door and two floors down. The first two were used for training in close-combat, and typically were occupied by Knights and Tamers seeking to practice their skills. The third was the gun range, and the fourth and final floor was reserved for storage of supplies.

He was a few minutes late. It was rare for him to be late at all, but Shura had made it a habit to appear only ten to twenty minutes after their lesson had supposedly started, so Yukio had hope she'd be none the wiser.

The moment he set foot on the floor and spotted her fiery hair and equally excited, stretched shit-eating grin, Yukio groaned and closed his eyes for a moment. "Of _course _the one day I'm late, _you're_ on time," he complained, already irritated by the look on her face.

Shura threw her head back and laughed, long tendrils of red hair bouncing with her joy. "Nyahaha! It's not my fault yew can't read a clock, moley four-eyes! Now, what to punish yew with, hm?' Shura asked, sitting cross-legged on the table supporting the tennis ball machine. She patted the side of the machine contemplatively and grinned. "Ah know."

She reached around the machine to the tub holding the balls and upended it. Yukio watched in mounting disbelief as the green balls bounced harmlessly across the hall and as Shura tugged the drawstring of a bag beside her.

The brown bag was bulging and huge, resting on the floor but long enough to reach the top of the table. Yukio's eyes widened when Shura's blood-red nails withdrew something dark green and round, marred by irregular patterns. His breath caught when she laughed, tossing the ball up with one hand. As it came back down, it turned round and Yukio realized it was a hobgoblin. The bag was filled with hobgoblins!

They were quiet, large eyes closed into slits that spread across their faces and wings tucked in. Shura laughed delightedly as she bounced one up and down before tossing it into the bin, where it rolled restlessly around. Two, three, four more were thrown in, until it was a veritable mountain of demons resting in the bin.

"Alright, there yew go. Go stand over there and get ready." Shura said absentmindedly as she leaned over with a felt-tipped marker. Shura began to draw on the top of the barrel, and Yukio hurriedly stood on the far end of the hall, facing the machine and watching with squinted eyes as he made out a sigil from her doodles. The moment he realized what it was for, Shura was already cackling and powering the machine up. It hummed and whirred for a few moments and Yukio hurriedly released the clasps on his guns, tugging them out and loading them in the few seconds he had before the machine began spitting hobgoblins out at him.

Swallowing the sudden rise of fear, Yukio calmly clicked the safety back and aimed steadily as the machine, set on high, began shooting out demon after demon, awakened from their forced slumber by the sigil and snarling at the sudden force from being ejected from the machine.

_They're from the kingdom of Earth, but they're low-level so simple holy water-coated bullets will work_. With that thought Yukio aimed and shot, piercing each hobgoblin between its enraged eyes to ensure its exorcism. The more demons he destroyed, the more bursts of dusts fogged the air, making it harder to aim accurately. Yukio prevailed, angrily sighting each demon down and killing it mercilessly.

When the last one came snarling at him, Yukio found he was out of bullets. Thinking quickly, he yanked out a knife from a side-pocket and tossed it, nailing it in the forehead and deep enough to have the tip of the blade peeking out the other end. With a screech the goblin flew off course and landed to the left of Yuko, who chanted its final verse. It disappeared into a poof of air.

When he looked up he found Shura still sitting cross-legged, eyeing him warily. "What?" He demanded, holstering his guns and patting his sleeves down of demonic dust as he walked towards her, though he knew that it always dissipated.

She gestured up towards her eyes with two fingers. "Yew got a scary look going on there. What's going on?"

Her gaze was serious and focused, and Yukio resented the sudden care when all she'd done was try to aggravate him in the first place. Brushing past her, he said shortly, "It's none of your business."

"So cold!" She cried, laughing. "Yew'll never gunna get a gurlfriend being _that _way!"

"I don't have time for girls anyways!" Yukio shouted back, incensed. Shaking his head, he let go of his anger. "It's nothing, Shura. I was just frustrated by something. I'll see you next week," he added, hoping the dismissal would let him get away.

"Hmm," Shura said, singing the tune and still watching him. "Next week it is, four-eyes."

_-/-_

Yukio tapped the end of his pencil against the desk rhythmically, focusing only enough to follow the teacher's lecture. He knew all of it already, having reviewed the material the day before. He caught the glare of one of his classmates and firmly set his pencil down. Moments later his knee bounced under his desk, expelling the pent up energy.

It was the last class of the day, but it seemed to be dragging. He sighed, the sound muffled by the palm of his hand as he bent into his arm. Even though he and Rin had stopped being in the same class once middle school started, he'd only gotten used to going to school without Rin recently. He nibbled on his lip contemplatively.

The bell rung, and the teacher wrapped up his lesson before writing out the day's homework that Yukio diligently noted in his planner, the small notebook always present.

"Man, that took forever, eh Okumura-kun?" His classmate, Tadashi, groaned, sitting sideways in his chair and tilting back so that it hit Yukio's. It jarred his pen, drawing an erratic line and Tadashi hissed apologetically. "Sorry, man."

"Don't worry about it," Yukio said, smiling politely and capping his pen. He shuffled his things into his bag, mildly ignoring his chatting neighbor.

"And so we - that is Tsukasa, Ryuuji, and me - we were thinking of going to that new karaoke place. You know which one we're talking about? The one on the corner of 5th and 1st!"

"I'm sorry Tadashi-kun, but I have to go meet my uncle. My dad insists." Yukio pushed back from his desk and stood, grip tightening on his bag.

"Oh, the one who took in your brother? Guess you can't help it, then. Maybe next time, okay?"

"Yes, next time for sure," Yukio lied, turning away. The rest of the class had already filed out, and he slid the door open.

"Okumura-kun!"

Yukio turned back. Tadashi was still sitting sideways, face turned towards him and away from the windows, features shadowed by the sun at his back. Yukio could barely make out the hesitant grin he wore. "Don't be a stranger, okay? We're...we're worried about you."

_Sure you are_, Yukio thought bitterly, but smiled all the same, eyes crinkling with the gesture. "There's nothing to worry about, lighten up!" He huffed a soft laugh to break the building tension, and Tadashi lit up.

"Yea, you're right. Yea, yea, you know how we get. Overthinking and stuff. See you later, then?"

"See you later," Yukio agreed, waving and then leaving.

The school was mostly empty then, aside from the odd student rushing to get to their clubs. Yukio got a pass to be exempt from the mandatory club activities, but only because Shiro had gone to explain the nature of their business. His training was considered educational activity enough so that the school relented, though the principal had nervously extracted a deal from Shiro to scour the premises for demons.

It wasn't common knowledge, really, that demons existed, and while the Vatican didn't go out of their way to hide their existence, they didn't try to tell everyone either. So the common folk were left in a strange limbo of myth and legend, and with the onset of technology most people believed the "viral images" of actual demons were doctored.

Overall, it made the exorcists' jobs easier, since they didn't have to cater to the public's many fears but still got leeway with government officials, since the Vatican transcended political and geographic boundaries. It was a good deal and they weren't eager to change it.

Yukio adjusted the strap of his bag as he tugged out his shoes and set them down, briefly thinking of Rin, who would probably just drop the shoes on the ground. Lips tilting up softly, he toed off his indoor shoes, replaced them with his regular ones, and tapped his toes to settle the sole.

A glance at his wristwatch told him he was on time, so he didn't rush as he left the school's premises, nodding genially towards the school teacher on guard at the gate. The bus stop was a block or so down the way, in the opposite direction of the monastery and towards the incline of the mountain their city rested on.

The bus stop was empty as this time of day - reasonably, since most people would be heading back from working in the upper districts rather than going towards. It wasn't late enough for night shifts yet, either, so Yukio enjoyed a quite ride in the bus towards the train terminal.

Similarly, when he disembarked, he found few going through the turnstiles. It suited him well enough, since by nature he didn't particularly like crowds. Where people gathered, demons tended to congregate, too, and Yukio didn't want any unneeded stress now. He swiped his rarely used train pass and grinned when his habitual meticulous planning paid off. His train was just pulling in, the screech of metal loud in the absence of a crowd.

In a strange way - and he supposed it was because he was born a twin - while he didn't like crowds, he also didn't like being alone. There was something about pure silence that unsettled him. He needed something; someone's soft breathing, the clack of train wheels rolling, the whistle of factories, to break the silence. When it was dead quiet, he retreated into his mind, twisting and turning through all the possibilities and plans.

The quiet presence of someone else, like the elderly man down the aisle, was welcoming.

Yukio closed his planner, resting it atop his messenger bag on his lap. Now that he thought about it, there was no one else but he and the old man in their car. He leaned forward to peer through the window into another car, and found it similarly empty. In fact, no one at all was in the next one. They were the last car of the train, too, and it unnerved Yukio.

It was late afternoon, sure most people wouldn't be heading towards the upper districts, but was it really just he and a lonely old man?

Yukio opened his planner and bent his head forward, fishing a pen - marked by the insignia of the order - from a side pocket in his bag and began to mindlessly scratch out characters, adding more details to his plans and allowing his glasses to slide down the bridge of his nose.

He peered sideways over the frame of his glasses, heart thumping uncertainly. Yes. Yes, there was something off about that man. He held a cane loosely between his legs, resting wizened hands on the curve of the stick. The man sat with his back ramrod straight, and was dressed in casual slacks and a button down, brown suspenders stretching up to cross on his back. He was still fairly young looking, with mostly brown hair and white beginning to bleach away color at his temples.

There was something off about the man, but Yukio couldn't see it. He _felt _it, and he knew he was missing some detail his brain had registered but that he couldn't see.

Suddenly, darkness enveloped the car, and Yukio watched in dismay as the mouth of the tunnel swallowed the train. Blinking rapidly, Yukio tried to adjust but was thrown backwards when hands wrapped around his neck, knocking his head against the window and his glasses loose.

"Wha-!" Yukio choked, fingers scrambling to hands around his throat.

"Little boy, what are you doing?" Warm breath puffed against his cheek, and Yukio reared back when he smelled the rotten stench of spoiled teeth. "You...you're an exorcist, aren't you?"

Yukio could dimly make-out the outline of the elderly man from before, though Yukio was doubting he was simply a man. The fingers that tightened around his neck tapered off into sharp nails that threatened to draw blood, and Yukio desperately wiggled his fingers to free his throat.

"H-how…?" He huffed, a headache beginning to pound in his temples as his vision became distorted. His glasses weren't on properly and it was dark, and even as he squinted he could still barely make out the stray hairs on the man. Where was the lighting in the train? What had made it go out? Was it the demon?

The demon clicked his tongue and roughly brought Yukio forward. He cried out in alarm at the sudden tug, and felt his breath catch when the demon leered closer, eyes so close that Yukio could distinguish his pupils, slightly glowing yellow.

"This puts a wrench in my plans, but oh well."

Yukio was about to demand what plans the demon had, but without warning the demon slammed him back roughly, snapping his head back. The edge of the window bit into his skull and Yukio cried out as his vision blurred. The demon let go and Yukio fell forward, curled into his lap and hands cradling his head.

The demon spoke more but Yukio couldn't tell the difference between his words and the steady clacking of the train's wheels. Dizzily, Yukio wondered if the train was still moving, then why they weren't out of the tunnel yet. Surely it wasn't that long?

Nausea crept up his throat, coating his tongue with saliva even as the pounding in his head continued to grow louder. He groaned, digging his fingers into his temples and shaking his head slightly. It made him dizzier, so Yukio curled in and tried to stay still.

He barely noticed when the train came to a stop.

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**A/N: **Been a while since a cliffhanger, huh? Surprise! Haha, Yukio gets his own share of demon fighting, too. It's surprisingly harder to write Yukio than Rin, who's simple-minded.

Also, did you hear? Blue Exorcist is getting an anime reboot next year! I'm super excited! And the new volume cover featuring Shura looks amazing. I can't wait until I can write more of her 3

This chap feels really short even though its 3.5k words lol I wonder what that says about my writing...? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for all the reviews /

Next chapter: Yukio is cruel and a character makes a reappearance. (Very vague, yes, good)


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